In perhaps the most expected moment in gene patenting matters this year, Myriad Genetics has filed a Notice of Appeal over the court ruling which invalidated its patents over the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Dan Vorhaus at Genomics Law Report and Kevin Noonan at Patent Docs both report that the company will officially appeal Judge Robert Sweet's ruling. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals will now hear arguments, and there's still a chance this case could go all the way to the US Supreme Court, Vorhaus and Noonan write. Vorhaus adds the Circuit Court could take up to a year to make a decision. "More than anything else, this appeal should serve as a reminder that there is still a long way to go before this litigation is finally resolved," he says. Noonan adds he is interested to see which institutions will file amicus briefs in support of Myriad. "It will be interesting to see if amici include universities, whose patent portfolios will be the most harmed by affirmance of the gene patenting ban promulgated by Judge Sweet," he says.
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