Obviousness of DNA fragments in the post-Kubin era

Four years ago, the Federal Circuit held in In re Kubin, 561 F.3d 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2009) that the claimed polynucleotide (DNA) sequences in that case were obvious, although the prior art did not disclose or suggest what the claimed sequences would look like. In effect, the Federal Circuit found the sequences obvious because the prior art disclosed sufficient information to make isolating and characterising the claimed DNA sequences a rather straightforward project.