[Commons-Law] US Supreme Court dismisses LabCorp patent case
Via: "Vinay Aravind"
Anti-climax! But it would be interesting to read the dissents.
Originally available at
http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-06-22T162754Z_01_N22381714_RTRIDST_0_COURT-LABCORP-PATENT.XML&rpc=66
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday
dismissed an appeal of a key patent case by medical testing company
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH.N: Quote, Profile,
Research).
The high court declined to issue a ruling on the merits of the case, which
could have provided further guidance on the limits of what can be
patented.
LabCorp had argued that a patent it licensed from a small company called
Metabolite Laboratories Inc. was too vague because it claimed to cover a
basic scientific relationship.
The subject of the patent is a system for diagnosing a vitamin B12
deficiency by correlating it with elevated levels of a compound called
homocysteine.
A jury had found LabCorp liable for infringement of the patent, and the
decision was upheld by a federal appeals court.
In dismissing the case, the Supreme Court said it had been mistaken in
granting the appeal and agreeing to decide the case in the first place,
but did not give any further explanation.
Three of the justices dissented from the decision to dismiss the case,
saying the patent should have been ruled invalid.
Writing for the three dissenters, Justice Stephen Breyer said the patent
amounted to "no more than an instruction to read some numbers in light of
medical knowledge."
Failing to decide on the merits of the case "threatens to leave the
medical profession subject to the restrictions imposed by this individual
patent and others of its kind," Breyer wrote. He was joined by Justices
John Paul Stevens and David Souter.
Anti-climax! But it would be interesting to read the dissents.
Originally available at
http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-06-22T162754Z_01_N22381714_RTRIDST_0_COURT-LABCORP-PATENT.XML&rpc=66
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday
dismissed an appeal of a key patent case by medical testing company
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH.N: Quote, Profile,
Research).
The high court declined to issue a ruling on the merits of the case, which
could have provided further guidance on the limits of what can be
patented.
LabCorp had argued that a patent it licensed from a small company called
Metabolite Laboratories Inc. was too vague because it claimed to cover a
basic scientific relationship.
The subject of the patent is a system for diagnosing a vitamin B12
deficiency by correlating it with elevated levels of a compound called
homocysteine.
A jury had found LabCorp liable for infringement of the patent, and the
decision was upheld by a federal appeals court.
In dismissing the case, the Supreme Court said it had been mistaken in
granting the appeal and agreeing to decide the case in the first place,
but did not give any further explanation.
Three of the justices dissented from the decision to dismiss the case,
saying the patent should have been ruled invalid.
Writing for the three dissenters, Justice Stephen Breyer said the patent
amounted to "no more than an instruction to read some numbers in light of
medical knowledge."
Failing to decide on the merits of the case "threatens to leave the
medical profession subject to the restrictions imposed by this individual
patent and others of its kind," Breyer wrote. He was joined by Justices
John Paul Stevens and David Souter.
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