On July 17, 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed that medical treatment methods are unpatentable when they amount to professional medical skill and judgment or seek to “fence in” an area of medical treatment. By a 7–2 majority, the court upheld Janssen Inc.’s patent covering dosing regimens for a schizophrenia drug because implementing the regimens did not require professional medical skill and judgment. (Pharmascience Inc. v. Janssen Inc., 2026 SCC 26 (Decision).)Case BackgroundJanssen developed a long-acting injectable formulation and dosing regimen for the drug paliperidone to treat schizophrenia. After conducting phased studies to determine the optimal dosing regimen, Janssen arrived at the regimen that became the basis of Canadian Patent 2,655,335 (the 335 Patent), which was issued in 2016....