CAREDX, INC. V. NATERA, INC., FEDERAL CIRCUIT 2022 (SOFTWARE PATENTS)
The Federal Circuit stated in this decision that CareDx’s patents apply conventional measurement techniques to detect a natural phenomenon—the level of donor cfDNA and the likelihood of organ transplant rejection.
CareDx and Stanford appealed a decision holding that Stanford’s Patents 8,703,652, 9,845,497, and 10,329,607 are ineligible for patent under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The three patents share the same specification and are entitled “Non-Invasive Diagnosis of Graft Rejection in Organ Transplant Patients.” These patents discuss diagnosing or predicting organ transplant status by using methods to detect a donor’s cell-free DNA (“cfDNA”). When an organ
transplant is rejected, the recipient’s body, through its natural immune response, destroys the donor cells, thus releasing cfDNA from the donated organ’s dying cells…