Whether a new and specific method of diagnosing a medical condition is patent-eligible subject matter

QUESTION PRESENTED Across eight opinions concurring or dissenting in the denial of rehearing en banc, the Federal Circuit unanimously agreed that the claims to a medical diagnostic method in this case should be patent-eligible. But the court split 7-5 on whether this Court’s precedent foreclosed such a result or whether it was the Federal Circuit’s own misinterpretation of that precedent that has denied patent protection to diagnostic tests. Numerous judges asked this Court to provide guidance. The question presented is: Whether a new and specific method of diagnosing a medical condition is patent-eligible subject matter, where the method detects a molecule never previously linked to the condition using novel man-made molecules and a series of specific chemical steps never previously performed. @