Patenting Therapeutic Methods: Statutes and Strategies

Abstract

Patenting medical therapeutic methods has become one of the toughest tasks for inventors and scientists in some jurisdictions where these methods are excluded from patentable subject matter. There are recent amendments by different countries in relation to patentability aspects of Therapeutic methods. In this scenario, analysis of these recent amendments would provide a path for researchers in the field to identify whether their inventions are considered as patentable subject matter. Our analysis sheds some light on different statutes and regulations of major jurisdictions on the patentable subject matter and patentability aspects of therapeutic methods. Furthermore, we have identified that most of the jurisdictions restrict inventors in patenting therapeutic methods. However, some countries such as United States and Australia allow patents related to therapeutic methods. We think adapting different strategies that are provided in this article would help researchers, inventors and patent attorneys in patenting the inventions related to therapeutic methods. Moreover, while applying the provided strategies, it is suggested that inventors should draft the patent claims by keeping a note of different statutes and regulations of countries in which they are interested to file the patent applications.