Association for Molecular Pathology v Myriad Genetics (US) and D'Arcy v Myriad Genetics (AU): Are Gene Patents in Europe a Threatened Species?

The Biotechnology Directive, passed by the European Parliament in 1998, provides that biological materials, even when they are isolated from the human body, are patentable subject-matter. However, two recent decisions of the highest appellate courts in the US and Australia cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Directive. These two decisions not only overruled patent office practice that had stood unchallenged for more than 30 years, but they demonstrate how differences in patent law statutory language and jurisprudence are irrelevant when it comes to determining what is an "invention Given that TRIPS mandates that patents be granted only for "inventions", in light of these decisions it is arguable that the Biotechnology Directive is inconsistent with TRIPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]