http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-07/palombi-human-genes-are-not-inventions/6834610
For a period of time Australian and U.S. patent law interpretation were in disagreement but not in the way you might expect. The Australian Federal Court allowed the patenting of genes of economic potential that had been isolated but not manipulated while the 2013 judgement in the USA disallowed patenting of such genes.
Now the Australian High Court has overturned that decision and brought the Australian situation in line with the current U.S. position.
When proper regard is paid to their emphasis on genetic information, the subject matter of the claims lies at the boundaries of the concept of "manner of manufacture". That it does lie at the boundaries is further evidenced by the odd consequence that if the claims are properly the subject of a patent, the patent could be infringed without the infringer being aware of that fact. That consequence coupled with the very large, indeed unquantified size of the relevant class of isolated nucleic acids, all of which bear the requisite information, raises the risk of a chilling effect upon legitimate innovative activity outside the formal boundaries of the monopoly and risks creating a penumbral de facto monopoly impeding the activities of legitimate improvers and inventors.
Read more here.
http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/judgment-summaries/2015/hca-35-2015-10-07.pdf
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