This is apparently the first time an SG has argued at the Federal Circuit–and is particularly notable because Katyal will appear instead of the solicitor general of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which was a defendant in the case at the trial court level. (The PTO did not appeal Judge Sweet’s ruling.) There’s been a lot of talk among patent lawyers that the PTO–which has a policy of granting patents on genes–and the Justice Department don’t agree on the issue.
“It’s unprecedented, to my knowledge, for the Solicitor General to argue in the Federal Circuit on a matter of patent and trademark policy,” said Edward Reines of Weil, Gotshal & Manges (who’s not involved directly in the Myriad case but told us about Katyal’s letter to the Federal Circuit clerk). “Gene patents are such a highly charged topic that, apparently, the Justice Department isn’t willing to leave it to patent office experts.”
