In advance of a formal guidance on patent subject matter eligibility, the USPTO has issued a memorandum to patent examiners to make sure that claims include elements that amount to significantly more than the restatement or application of existing laws…

Healthcare professionals are sold on the clinical benefits of health IT tools such as clinical decision support, e-prescribing, telemedicine and electronic health records (EHRs) – when they work well and don’t interfere with the practice of medicine. EHRs have been…

According to a survey conducted in December 2011 by Clinical Research Site Training, conflicts with clinical practice are the primary reason investigators stop conducting research studies. Unprofitable trials are another significant factor. Over 300 clinical sites, representing a broad range of…

The question raised in the case brought by the Mayo Clinic against a patent held by Prometheus Laboratories is whether the claims embodied more than ordinary laws of nature, which are not patentable.  The court issued a unanimous decision that…

Tempting as it might be to think of tuberculosis (TB) as a disease of history, the World Health Organization estimates that 1.45 million people died of TB in 2010. Up to a third of the world’s population lives with latent…