Long QT syndrome
Gene patents confer a property right to the patent holder. While CIPO will grant patents for isolated gDNA and cDNA, the Supreme Court of Canada has not yet ruled on gene patentability. However, in 2016 the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) sought to invalidate five Canadian patents held by Transgenomic. The gene patents covered the genes associated with, and genetic testing for Long QT syndrome. The parties reached a settlement. The patent was not invalidated, but, Transgenomic provided Canadian health institutions the right to test Canadians for the disease on a non-profit basis. In "Association for" "Molecular Pathology v Myriad", the United States Supreme Court determined that genes were unpatentable products of nature and that no intellectual property existed as nothing was invented. Given this decision, the majority of Canadian Long QT syndrome tests were previously outsourced to the United States. After the settlement, domestic testing levels increased in Canada. The terms of the settlement could set a precedent for the repatriation of further genetic testing.