Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/12pdf/12-398_1b7d.pdf
Page Number: 8.0

Cite as:  569 U. S. ____ (2013) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

sequence.1    That  information,  in  turn,  enabled  Myriad  to
develop  medical  tests  that  are  useful  for  detecting  muta-
tions in a patient’s BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and thereby 
assessing  whether  the  patient  has  an  increased  risk  of 
cancer. 

Once  it  found  the  location  and  sequence  of  the  BRCA1
and BRCA2 genes, Myriad sought and obtained a number 
of  patents.    Nine  composition  claims  from  three  of  those
patents  are  at  issue  in  this  case.2   See  id.,  at  1309,  and 
n. 1  (noting  composition  claims).    Claims  1,  2,  5,  and  6 
from  the  ’282  patent  are  representative.  The  first  claim 
asserts a patent on “[a]n isolated DNA coding for a BRCA1
polypeptide,” which has “the amino acid sequence set forth
in SEQ ID NO:2.”  App. 822.  SEQ ID NO:2 sets forth a list 
of 1,863 amino acids that the typical BRCA1 gene encodes. 
See  id.,  at  785–790.    Put  differently,  claim  1  asserts  a
patent claim on the DNA code that tells a cell to produce 
the string of BRCA1 amino acids listed in SEQ ID NO:2. 

Claim 2 of the ’282 patent operates similarly.  It claims 
“[t]he isolated DNA of claim 1, wherein said DNA has the 
nucleotide  sequence  set  forth  in  SEQ  ID  NO:1.”    Id.,  at 
822.  Like  SEQ  ID  NO:2,  SEQ  ID  NO:1  sets  forth  a 
long list of data, in this instance the sequence of cDNA that
codes  for  the  BRCA1  amino  acids  listed  in  claim  1.    Im-
portantly, SEQ ID NO:1 lists only the cDNA exons in the 
BRCA1  gene,  rather  than  a  full  DNA  sequence  contain- 
ing  both  exons  and  introns.  See  id.,  at  779  (stating  that 
SEQ ID NO:1’s “MOLECULE TYPE:” is “cDNA”).  As a re-
sult, the Federal Circuit recognized that claim 2 asserts a 
patent on the cDNA nucleotide sequence listed in SEQ ID 

—————— 

1 Technically, there is no “typical” gene because nucleotide sequences 
vary between individuals, sometimes dramatically.  Geneticists refer to 
the most common variations of genes as “wild types.” 

2 At  issue  are  claims  1,  2,  5,  6,  and  7  of  U. S.  Patent  5,747,282  (the 
’282  patent),  claim  1  of  U. S.  Patent  5,693,473  (the  ’473  patent),  and 
claims 1, 6, and 7 of U. S. Patent 5,837,492 (the ’492 patent).