Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/11pdf/10-1150.pdf
Page Number: 26.0

22  MAYO COLLABORATIVE SERVICES v. PROMETHEUS 

LABORATORIES, INC. 
Opinion of the Court 

and 103 would “make all inventions unpatentable because 
all  inventions  can  be  reduced  to  underlying  principles  of 
nature  which,  once  known,  make  their  implementation
obvious.”  Id., at 189, n. 12.  See also Eisenberg, Wisdom of 
the  Ages  or  Dead-Hand  Control?    Patentable  Subject
Matter  for  Diagnostic  Methods  After  In re  Bilski,  3  Case 
W.  Res.  J. L.  Tech.  &  Internet  1,  ___  (forthcoming,  2012) 
(manuscript, at 85–86, online at http://www.patentlyo.com/
files/eisenberg.wisdomordeadhand.patentlyo.pdf  (as  vis­
ited  Mar.  16,  2012,  and  available  in  Clerk  of  Court’s 
case file)); 2 D. Chisum, Patents §5.03[3] (2005). 

Section  112  requires  only  a  “written  description  of  the
invention  . . .  in  such  full,  clear,  concise,  and  exact  terms 
as to enable any person skilled in the art . . . to make and 
use the same.”  It does not focus  on the possibility that  a 
law  of  nature  (or  its  equivalent)  that  meets  these  condi­
tions  will  nonetheless  create  the  kind  of  risk  that  under­
lies  the  law  of  nature  exception,  namely  the  risk  that  a
patent  on  the  law  would  significantly  impede  future  in-
novation.  See  Lemley  1329–1332  (outlining  differences
between  §§101  and  112);  Eisenberg,  supra,  at  ___  (manu­
script,  at  92–96)  (similar).  Compare  Risch,  Everything
is  Patentable,  75  Tenn.  L.  Rev.  591  (2008)  (defending  a
minimalist  approach  to  §101)  with  Lemley  (reflecting 
Risch’s change of mind). 

These  considerations  lead  us  to  decline  the  Govern­
ment’s invitation to substitute §§102, 103, and 112 inquir­
ies for the better established inquiry under §101. 

Fourth, Prometheus, supported by several amici, argues
that  a  principle  of  law  denying  patent  coverage  here  will 
interfere significantly with the ability of medical research­
ers  to  make  valuable  discoveries,  particularly  in  the  area
of  diagnostic  research.    That  research,  which  includes 
research  leading  to  the  discovery  of  laws  of  nature,  is 
expensive;  it  “ha[s]  made  the  United  States  the  world 
leader  in  this  field”;  and  it  requires  protection.    Brief  for