BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Congress pushes to reform patent eligibility, biotechs say not enough

Hopes for revitalizing diagnostics are on hold, as biotechs ask Congress for bigger patent reforms.

May 10, 2019 12:37 AM UTC

Congress has taken the first step towards fixing a key problem with patent policy that has crippled the diagnostics industry and disrupted development of other life science inventions, but its proposed solution falls short for biotechs.

The problem lies in competing interests from tech and life science companies in Section 101 of the Patent Act, which defines the minimum threshold for patentable inventions. ...