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Student Project: Patentability of Genes: Secondary Sources

This research guide will facilitate a legal analysis about whether genes should be patented by providing primary, secondary and other source materials.

Treatises for Understanding Patents

Patent Law Digests

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Matthews Annotated Patent Digest, Section 20:17. Pure or synthetic forms of naturally occurring compositions.  This section describes the changes in the court's position over time regarding the patentability of isolated DNA molecules.  Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Myriad, the Federal Circuit ruled that natural DNA isolated from the body was sufficiently different than DNA as it is found in the body because chemical bonds are cleaved to excise it from the chromosome.  The Supreme Court reversed this ruling in part, stating that natural isolated DNA was not patentable, but synthetic complementary DNA (cDNA) was patent eligible because introns in the natural DNA are spliced out of the DNA in the process of synthesizing cDNA from messenger RNA in the laboratory.** 

Law Review Articles

IP and Patent Journal Articles

Selected Books

Title: Can Law Make Life (too) Simple?
Author: Tine Sommer
Publisher: DJOF Publishing, Copenhagen 2013
ISBN-10: 8757431191
ISBN-13: 978-8757431193
This recently published book is the author's thesis for a doctoral degree in Law (Dr. jur.).  The author examines, among other things, the issues in patenting complex biological systems.  A chapter is dedicated to "Developing gene patenting: The case of Myriad Genetics".

Title: Rethinking Patent Law
Author: Robin Feldman
ISBN 9780674064683
Publication: June 2012
Addresses the question of where do processes of nature end and processes of human inventions begin.
Title: The Role of Science in Law
Author: Robin Feldman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 9, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0195368584
ISBN-13: 978-0195368581