> Would this company have made the breast cancer detection procedure that they had a patent on if they did not have the ability to protect it with a patent? Ac

> Would this company have made the breast cancer detection procedure that they had a patent on if they did not have the ability to protect it with a patent? According to my reading of the case, the company didn't invent a breast cancer procedure. Instead, they found a gene that has some involvement in breast cancer and tried to claim suppressing said gene. They lost because their patent didn't disclose or claim anything relevant to suppressing said gene. IFRC, the judge said that they didn't invent anything, which they pretty much conceded. Since you can't patent discoveries, only uses of discoveries to do something, they lost.