Patent Protection for Second Medical Uses

Book excerpt: When a party develops a ‘second medical use’ for a known substance or compound, special issues of patentability arise. Jurisdictions around the world vary significantly in their treatment of such claims. This detailed country-by-country analysis provides clarity, insight, and guidance on the legal issues and practical implications of second medical use claims in nineteen jurisdictions worldwide as well as the European Union. The authors of the country chapters have been carefully selected based on a broad basis of experience and in-depth knowledge about medical patents in their respective jurisdictions. Each chapter considers such issues and topics as the following: • availability of protection; • validity of claims; • scope of protection; • enforcement; and • infringement. A general chapter about the practice of the European Patent Office (EPO) addresses in particular the latest changes in the format of second medical use claims from the “Swiss-type claims” to the “EPC 2000 claims”. Specific issues and national peculiarities which deviate from the EPO practice are explained in the various national European chapters, while chapters on jurisdictions outside Europe cover both prosecution and enforcement of patents with second medical use claims. As a comparative law study and a collection of contributions from around the world on an important and controversial field, this book will prove of tremendous practical interest for the industry involved and for the public. Applicants for pharmaceutical patents, third parties, and interested legal practitioners will benefit greatly from its thorough comparative analysis and guidance. This book is the second volume in the AIPPI Law Series which has been established together with the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).