Patent Requirements

The chemical and pharmaceutical companies protect their investment in research and development and the future of these companies by obtaining patents on their inventions. Patents help you resist competition. The success or failure of the enterprise often depends on the strength of the patent. The words in the patent document must meet the requirements in rigid under the patent laws. Even if the invention protected by patent is a fantasy, the court throw out the patent if it violates a condition of form.

The patent document is normally divided into several sections, for example, a section describing the background of the invention, another section describing the invention as a summary, another section describing the drawings of your invention, but another section describing in detail how to make and use the invention, and a final section that lists various aspects of your invention in the numbered sentences, typically 1-20. These numbered sentences or claims are the most important part of the patent.

There are claims that define the invention. When a competitor wants to design around your invention, it will turn to the language of the claims. When you sue someone for infringing your invention, the court will consider the claims of your patent. It is clear that the claims are of paramount importance.

The patent contains claims independent and dependent claims. Dependent claims refer to a previous claim. independent claims do not refer to any other claim. Example, dependent claim two will return to the independent claim 1. When the dependent claims refer to other claims, they must meet certain conditions in rigid, one of which is that the dependent claim can not be broader than the application refers to. For example, if a claim described a drug acid form or salt form, claim 2 can describe the drug salt form. However, if a claim describes only the acid form, claim 2 does not describe the form of salt. If it describes the case, then Claim 2 is broader than claim 1, which is prohibited under the patent laws.

In a recent battle between pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and generics manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories, the generic manufacturer was able to strike a patent that covered blockbuster drug Lipitor. The patent application stated that Pfizer against Ranbaxy has been declared invalid by the High Court. Here, Pfizer said Claim 6 describes a calcium salt of the drug against the opponent. Claim 6 returned to claim 2, which describes an acid form of the drug, but not in salt form. The High Court ruled that the claim 6 may not need to refer to claim 2. The result lasts encountered by Pfizer is somewhat surprising because it was considered by many a court would not look the form over substance, as the trial court did. The lower court has been reluctant to find fault with the patent claim.

The High Court opinion emphasized that the filing of a patent Winning requires careful consideration of various legal concepts, including conditions complex form of the Patents Act.
Copyright 2006