U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Medical Diagnostics
Patent Case

This month, the Supreme Court will hear a patent case that could have a significant impact on the diagnostics industry (Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) v. Metabolite Laboratories). Metabolite is accusing LabCorp of indirectly infringing on Metabolite’s patent for diagnostics tests to measure homocysteine levels in the body, which are a key predictor of vitamin B deficiency. LabCorp argues the diagnostics tests are unpatentable because the relationship between homocysteine and vitamin B is a law of nature.

According to Timothy McBride, an associate with Senniger Powers, a favorable ruling for LabCorp could have a serious impact on the diagnostics industry and create a chilling effect on research and development of innovative diagnostics procedures.

Please see January’s issue of Nature Biotechnology for the article in its entirety. Subscribers may access the story online at http://www.nature.com.