After seven years of dispute, the European Patent Office (EPO) has decided to uphold Myriad Genetics' patent on the BRCA1 'breast cancer gene' but in a limited form. In 2001 patents were granted to Salt Lake City, Utah–based Myriad for using the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 to diagnose women's predisposition to breast and ovarian cancers. But international research institutes and genetics societies filed an opposition to the patents. “It became clear that the patent owners did not intend to offer licenses [to other institutions], or at least not at a reasonable price,” says Gert Matthijs from the Center for Human Genetics, University of Leuven, Belgium. “This [pricing issue] has angered the genetic community, even more than the idea that genes and diagnostic tests could be patented.” As a result, EPO revoked the patent for BRCA1. Myriad then filed an appeal requesting that the patent be maintained in a revised form. The November 19 ruling gives the patent owners the right to collect royalties on tests carried out across Europe, although the patent's original scope has been reduced to cover only frameshift mutations, not BRAC1 itself. EPO says the patent cannot be contested at the European level; however, it is still possible for opponents to go to national courts to further reduce the scope of the patent. Myriad's William Hockett says the company is pleased with EPO's decision.