Blood-Test Case at Top U.S. Court May Send Patent ‘Shock Waves’

Companies, trade groups, and lawyers representing diverse industrial sectors have filed more than two dozen legal briefs in a case set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on December 7, 2011, on the validity of two patents held by Prometheus Laboratories that cover abstract thoughts or processes in the field of biological sciences. The patents involve methods for calibrating the proper dosage of drugs to treat autoimmune diseases, according to filings before the high court. “The claims have to do with diagnostic methods, but it has the potential to touch industries we don’t know about,” said Finnegan partner Erika Arner, who filed a brief on behalf of SAP, asking the court not to restrict software and computer patents. Because the court will be considering a fundamental question in patent law, subject matter patentability, the ruling has the potential to send “shock waves across all industries,” said Arner.