Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.

Whether 35 U.S.C. § 101 is satisfied by a patent claim that covers observed correlations between blood test results and patient health, so that the claim effectively preempts all uses of the naturally occurring correlations, simply because well-known methods used to administer prescription drugs and test blood may involve "transformations" of body chemistry.

The Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit's judgement, concluding that, "the patent claims at issue here effectively claim the underlying laws of nature themselves. The claims are consequently invalid."

Cert. granted 06/20/11. Decided 3/20/12.