Diamond, Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks v. Chakrabarty

Decided June 16, 1980. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-136 · 447 U.S. 303 (1980) · Cited 377 times

Holding

A live, human-made micro-organism is patentable subject matter under 101.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Parker v. Flook · 437 U.S. 584 (1978)
• Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas City · 383 U.S. 1 (1966)
• Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kalo Inoculant Co. · 333 U.S. 127 (1948)
• Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill · 437 U.S. 153 (1978)
• Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron Corp. · 416 U.S. 470 (1974)
• Barr v. United States · 324 U.S. 83 (1945)
• Deepsouth Packing Co. v. Laitram Corp. · 406 U.S. 518 (1972)
• Perrin v. United States · 444 U.S. 37 (1979)
• Southeastern Community College v. Davis · 442 U.S. 397 (1979)
• Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Supermarket Equipment Corp. · 340 U.S. 147 (1950)
• United States v. Price · 361 U.S. 304 (1960)
• Gottschalk v. Benson · 409 U.S. 63 (1972)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Sloan · 436 U.S. 103 (1978)
• Puerto Rico v. Shell Co. (PR), Ltd. · 302 U.S. 253 (1937)
• United States v. Dubilier Condenser Corp · 289 U.S. 178 (1933)
• Hartranft v. Wiegmann · 121 U.S. 609 (1887)
• Le Roy v. Tatham · 55 U.S. 156 (1853)
• Browder v. United States · 312 U.S. 335 (1941)
• Universal Oil Products Co. v. Globe Oil & Refining Co. · 322 U.S. 471 (1944)
• American Fruit Growers, Inc. v. Brogdex Co. · 283 U.S. 1 (1931)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. · 534 U.S. 124 (2001)
• Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. · 569 U.S. 576 (2013)
• Diamond v. Diehr · 450 U.S. 175 (1981)
• Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
• Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid · 490 U.S. 730 (1989)
• Texas Industries, Inc. v. Radcliff Materials, Inc. · 451 U.S. 630 (1981)
• Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. · 489 U.S. 141 (1989)
• City of Milwaukee v. Illinois · 451 U.S. 304 (1981)
• Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings v. Metabolite Laboratories, Inc. · 548 U.S. 124 (2006)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Warren Earl Burger’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1980). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).