Milestone legal action taken against confronting a patent over breast cancer gene BRCA1 is being unveiled in Australia today.

The Australian action pursues a court case in the United States that goes against patent holder, Myriad Genetics.

Both the US and Australian legal cases are trying to remove patents from human genes all in all.

The lawyers are intending to establish that patents should not have been given away over human genes since they say these genes occur naturally, and so, is a discovery, not an invention.

In the month of March, the Federal District Court in New York gave ruling that patents should not have been given away to Myriad Genetics on two human genes, BRCA1 and 2.

Melbourne-based firm, Genetic Technologies Limited has the exclusive license from Myriad to do the BRCA1 and 2 testing in Australia. The tests demonstrate whether a woman is more vulnerable to developing breast and ovarian cancer.

The action that is being launched in Australia's Federal Court today intends to consider GTL's domination on the gene mutation invalid.

The case is being brought against four biotech firms which include GTL and Myriad by Law Corporation, Maurice Blackburn, National Consumer Group, Cancer Voices and Yvonne D'Arcy, a Brisbane woman with breast cancer.