Patent Question
June 27, 2012 4:32 PM Subscribe
Rational design of drugs - patentable?
On route in modern drug development is the structural modification of promising (lead) compounds. Compounds that show initial activity, for example in blocking an enzyme, are modified to increase this activity (add a side chain, remove a chain, change a chain etc. etc.). If the geometry of the target is known, this process can be done more or less rationally. Also, if the target geometry is known, new compounds can be designed from scratch to be tested.
This obviously can't be patented since it is state of the art. Assuming it would NOT be state of the art:
* Could this process be patented?
* If yes, what in this process could be patented?
(This is a very good analogy of a process in another chemical field and there is some interest in getting IP protection)
On route in modern drug development is the structural modification of promising (lead) compounds. Compounds that show initial activity, for example in blocking an enzyme, are modified to increase this activity (add a side chain, remove a chain, change a chain etc. etc.). If the geometry of the target is known, this process can be done more or less rationally. Also, if the target geometry is known, new compounds can be designed from scratch to be tested.
This obviously can't be patented since it is state of the art. Assuming it would NOT be state of the art:
* Could this process be patented?
* If yes, what in this process could be patented?
(This is a very good analogy of a process in another chemical field and there is some interest in getting IP protection)
Response by poster: Thank you imagineerit .
"What you described is a method involving taking known information about protein:drug interactions to design a drug to improve that interaction."
Yes. But now let's assume that it is an unknown fact that the activity is caused by protein:drug interaction and only you know and only you know yet how to measure it.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 4:45 PM on June 27, 2012
"What you described is a method involving taking known information about protein:drug interactions to design a drug to improve that interaction."
Yes. But now let's assume that it is an unknown fact that the activity is caused by protein:drug interaction and only you know and only you know yet how to measure it.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 4:45 PM on June 27, 2012
(This is a very good analogy of a process in another chemical field and there is some interest in getting IP protection)
I am an IP attorney, but I am not your IP attorney. This is not legal advice.
Since this is not actually a hypothetical question, you should consult an attorney to get an accurate answer about your specific process. I do not recommend trying to infer an answer from non-attorneys' analysis of a hypothetical scenario that you believe is analogous but that may not actually be in very important ways.
posted by jedicus at 5:03 PM on June 27, 2012 [1 favorite]
I am an IP attorney, but I am not your IP attorney. This is not legal advice.
Since this is not actually a hypothetical question, you should consult an attorney to get an accurate answer about your specific process. I do not recommend trying to infer an answer from non-attorneys' analysis of a hypothetical scenario that you believe is analogous but that may not actually be in very important ways.
posted by jedicus at 5:03 PM on June 27, 2012 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you jedicus. There are already patented inventions that bear my name and the people involved, while not patent lawyers, have written complex patents that were granted. It is a side product/invention for our niche business but may have tremendous impact in another industry. I talked to them already and they became very interested when I told them what we may be able to do. The plan would be to submit a provisional patent, laying out the basics and get a minimum of protection and then talk to some companies. AFAIK a provisional patent even does not need to include claims. The problem I see is that is is a very general and broad method.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 5:19 PM on June 27, 2012
posted by yoyo_nyc at 5:19 PM on June 27, 2012
The plan would be to submit a provisional patent, laying out the basics and get a minimum of protection and then talk to some companies
You should still consider talking to a patent attorney, at least a free initial consultation to lay out the pros and cons of this approach.
posted by jedicus at 5:42 PM on June 27, 2012
You should still consider talking to a patent attorney, at least a free initial consultation to lay out the pros and cons of this approach.
posted by jedicus at 5:42 PM on June 27, 2012
Are you talking about a general process or a specific process targeting a specific protein/drug interaction?
posted by mskyle at 6:30 PM on June 27, 2012
posted by mskyle at 6:30 PM on June 27, 2012
Response by poster: A general process. Like not a specific protein/drug, but the principle itself for PREDICTIVE design.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 6:51 PM on June 27, 2012
posted by yoyo_nyc at 6:51 PM on June 27, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
I doubt it's been directly addressed in a court case, but a recent SCOTUS decision would most likely cover it: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304724404577293390828369720.html
Briefly, the case was over 2 medical patents that essentially patented the process of measuring a patients blood levels for a certain protein and then making a determination as to what dose of a particular drug to administer based on the level of that protein in the blood.
What you've described is essentially the same concept: taking experimental results published in literature and applying them to the solving a problem in a methodical way. In the SCOTUS case above the method involved applying knowledge about the relation of a protein in the blood to the effective dose of a drug. What you described is a method involving taking known information about protein:drug interactions to design a drug to improve that interaction. IMO, these are essentially the same 'type' of idea.
This is actually a super interesting topic because of the implications not only in the medical industry, but also in software patents.
posted by imagineerit at 4:40 PM on June 27, 2012