Cancer of the appendix is a very rare form of cancer, having an incidence of 0.12 per 1,000,000 person-years (Siegel et al., 2020, Cancer statistics 2020 70:7-30). Incidence is rising (by 232% from 2000-2016 in the U.S.)...more
Almost three weeks ago, on October 31st, Junior Party the University of California/Berkeley, the University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier (collectively, "CVC") filed its priority motion in Interference No. 106,115,...more
Svante Pääbo created the science of detecting Neanderthal DNA in archeological samples (and living humans) almost single-handedly (see Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes). So it will come as little surprise to many...more
Since the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) rendered its decisions on Motions in Interference No. 106,115, Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively,...more
Turns Out, Early Humans Not the Cause of Woolly Rhinoceros Extinction -
Paleogenomics (the use of genetic analysis of DNA contained in ancient remains) has developed rapidly since Svante Pääbo first showed that DNA could...more
Chemotherapeutic drug resistance is one reason cancer remains an unsolved clinical problem despite the efforts ever since President Nixon declared his "War on Cancer" in 1971. Cancer cells, due in part to the genetic...more
Federal Circuit Hands Down Modified Opinion in Illumina, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc.
Earlier this year, the Federal Circuit (somewhat surprisingly) found claims of two Sequenom patents directed to methods for...more
8/6/2020
/ Appeals ,
Diagnostic Method ,
DNA ,
Life Sciences ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Petition For Rehearing ,
Product of Nature Doctrine ,
Reversal ,
Section 101 ,
Treatment Method Patents
One of the signal public health achievements/victories of the 20th Century is the eradication of smallpox (variola virus, VARV) announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1980; it has been estimated that smallpox...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life throughout the world this spring, bats have been a prominent feature in news stories and recriminations about how the pandemic started (and being blamed even more than happenings in...more
The domesticated chicken, Gallus gallus domesticus, is the most numerous domestic animal and a preferred source of animal protein. Chicken domestication has been thought (based on traditional measures) to have arisen in the...more
Genetic instability has long been recognized as a hallmark of oncogenesis and tumor progression. The phenomenon was first identified cytogenetically, most famously by the Philadelphia chromosome in chronic myelogenous...more
Measured by global dispersal alone, the common house mouse (Mus musculus ssp.) is the most successful invasive mammalian species. Perhaps surprisingly, the origin and history of this dispersal in the Western world has not be...more
Lions (Panthera leo) once were a widely distributed group of terrestrial mammals, ranging during the Pleistocene (from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago) in Eurasia, Africa, and North America, with species that included the...more
The human tendency to identify with tribes of "like" humans (related by family, place of origin, or religion, among other bases) was perverted during the Twentieth Century (and in some places remains so today) into the idea...more
Gregor Mendel's great good fortune (or extraordinary prescience) was that he chose for the traits he used to illustrate the genetic control of inheritance (despite having no inkling of its mechanism) traits in his pea plants...more
On Monday, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) heard oral argument (remotely) from Senior Party the Broad Institute (and its partners as Senior Party, Harvard University and MIT) and Junior Party the University of...more
5/22/2020
/ CRISPR ,
DNA ,
Interference Proceeding ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Nonobvious ,
Obviousness ,
Oral Argument ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art
By Kevin E. Noonan -- For several years, Sigma Aldrich has been prosecuting several applications (including USSNs 15/188,911; 15/188,924; and 15/456,204) claiming CRISPR technology that (it alleged) would be deserving of an...more
On April 20th, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) set oral argument in Interference No. 106,155, between Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively,...more
5/5/2020
/ Court Schedules ,
CRISPR ,
DNA ,
Interference Claims ,
Life Sciences ,
Oral Argument ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Public Hearing ,
Teleconferences
On April 17th, CVC filed its Reply to Broad's Opposition (filed on April 9th) to CVC's Miscellaneous Motion No. 2 to Exclude Evidence filed (on April 2nd), in Interference No 106,155 between Senior Party The Broad Institute,...more
4/28/2020
/ Admissible Evidence ,
CRISPR ,
Cross Examination ,
Daubert Standards ,
DNA ,
Expert Witness ,
Hearsay ,
Interference Claims ,
Motion to Exclude ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Petitioner Reply Briefs ,
Prior Art
On March 23rd, Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively, "Broad") filed its Reply to Junior Party the University of California/Berkeley, the University...more
On March 23rd Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively, "Broad") filed its Reply to Junior Party the University of California/Berkeley, the University...more
March 23rd was the deadline for the parties in Interference No. 106,115 between Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively, "Broad") and Junior Party the...more
March 23rd was a busy day at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) regarding Interference No. 106,115 between Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...more
4/15/2020
/ CRISPR ,
DNA ,
Expert Witness ,
Genetic Testing ,
Interference Claims ,
Life Sciences ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Petitioner Reply Briefs ,
Priority Rules ,
Universities
On January 9th, Junior Party the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Vienna; and Emmanuelle Charpentier (collectively, "CVC") filed its motion in opposition to Senior Party the Broad Institute (joined by...more
Left-handedness is a uniquely human trait, with 90% human populations globally being right-handed since the Paleolithic (extending from 3.3 million years ago to the end of the Pleistocene). A feature of motor control, the...more