The Challenge to Gene Patents as Feminist Patent Litigation

This article examines the effort to invalidate the patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes as a path-breaking example of patent litigation aimed at advancing women's rights. Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics was brought as a challenge to the practice of human gene patenting informed by feminist principles. The lawsuit contesting the patents on the genes—most known for their connection to hereditary risk for breast and ovarian cancers—asserted the importance of women's experiences in assessing whether isolated human genes could properly be considered "inventions." It thus highlighted women as stakeholders and agents for change while also deploying feminist analytical methods to shed light on the meanings and implications of seemingly neutral law and policy.