This well-researched book explores in detail the issue of patenting medical and genetic diagnostic methods in the United States.
It examines decisions of the Patent Office Boards of Appeal and the early courts on the question of whether medical treatments were eligible for patent protection under section 101 of the Patents Act. It then traces the legislative history of the Medical Procedures and Affordability Act that provided immunity for physicians from patent infringement suits. After considering the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on patent eligibility, the book then comprehensively sets out how the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court have dealt with the issue, paying close attention to the Supreme Court's recent decision in Bilski and Prometheus.
Being the first book to comprehensively cover patenting medical methods, it will appeal to patent agents, patent attorneys, solicitors and barristers working in patent and medical law worldwide, medical practitioners and healthcare professionals, in-house legal and regulatory departments of pharmaceutical companies. Researchers and managers in the chemical, medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, as well as academics specializing in medical law or patent law, will also find much to interest them in this book.