Upcoming Book Talk "The Genome Defense -Gene Patents, Civil Rights Litigation, and the American Government
September 15, 2023
In 2013, the US Supreme Court held that naturally occurring genetic sequences may not be patented, instantly invalidating hundreds, if not thousands, of existing patents and opening the market to genetic screens for cancer and other hereditary diseases. The case, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, was remarkable in many ways, not least because it was prosecuted on behalf of twenty plaintiffs -- researchers, professional associations, medical practitioners and individual patients -- by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation as a case centered on individual civil rights rather than a technical interpretation of the U.S. Patent Act. The case also sheds light on the poorly understood role of the executive branch and its many offices and agencies in formulating U.S. policy on science-based issues. In The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA (Hachette/Algonquin, 2021), Professor Jorge Contreras brings this important and unique case to life. Through nearly 100 interviews with attorneys, advocates, judges, patients, and government officials, Contreras peels back the layers of this remarkable episode in American legal history and explains not only what happened, but why and how, and what its implications are for the future of medical science.
Event Program
Moderator: Professor Charles Duan
Introduction of The Genome Defense with author and Professor Jorge L. Contreras from the University of Utah.
Author Bio: Professor Contreras is the James T. Jensen Endowed Professor for Transactional Law and Director of the Program on Intellectual Property and Technology Law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine. Professor Contreras’s research focuses on intellectual property, technical standards, antitrust law, and science policy.
Discussion #1 with Herman Yue Partner at Latham & Watkins
Topic: Working with complex science and technology in the context of the legal system and further impact of the case on practitioners.
Discussion #2 with Lisa Schlager, VP of Public Policy at Facing Our Risk
Topic: The patient advocacy experience with BRCA gene patents and the surrounding legal battle. Also, the current efforts to reform Section 101 of the U.S. Patent Act and the concern that this would abrogate AMP v. Myriad and other key rulings.
Discussion #3 with Professor Josh Sarnoff, Depaul College of Law
Topic: Connecting patent law doctrines and academic theory to a high-profile issue.