RED HERRING | Methods Patents Go to Court:


In a case that could have broad implications in the biotech industry and elsewhere, the question of whether or not natural phenomena are patentable will come before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday.
 
Laboratory Corp. v. Metabolite Laboratories, a patent infringement case regarding diagnostic methods, was appealed to the high court to determine if laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are patentable.
 
While a decision could significantly impact the hotly contested topics of software and business method patents, the court would have to stray significantly from the case history to do so.
 
In fact, the U.S. solicitor general has recommended that the court not make a determination on whether or not the patent is valid, because that issue had not been developed in the lower courts.