Patents, continued

• US• International Patents

International Patents

• Patents granted by sovereign states, so only valid within that jurisdiction.

• US patents – valid in US and its territories only

• Geographical Protection

Harmonization Efforts

• Paris Convention – 1883• PCT/EPC – 1978• NAFTA• GATT• First to file vs. first to invent• Pre-grant/post-grant opposition

Effects

• Harmonization – success on application process – uniformity of recognition for priority date, foreign nationals same privileges as nationals.

• Same information for application: inventor, claim,

• Growth of international patent documents

Patent Application

• Must contain:– Name of inventor– Enablement/Best Mode– Drawing– A Claim

Basic Parts of a Patent

• Title• Abstract• Background• Summary of invention• Brief description of the drawing• Detailed description• Claims

PCT – Patent Cooperation Treaty

• Uniform filing; designate states for ultimate granting

• Preliminary examination by World Patent Information Organization (WIPO)

• Published 18 months after filing• Application only

www.wipo.org

International Patent Classification

• Format: ANNA NNN/NN• Section, class, subclass for first four

characters• Successive characters further define field• Hierarchical relationship• IPC information:

www.wipo.int/classifications/en/ipc/brouchure/struct.htm

Example

• C07c 45/50• C- chemistry• 07 –organic chemistry• C-acyclic compounds• 45/00 – preparation• 45/50 – prep by oxo reactions

EP – European Patents

• Not same as European Union• Authority to grant patents for several

countries• Both applications and granted

patents• Publishes both application and

granted patents• ECLA – classification scheme• Inventor may be a corporation

www.european-patent-office.org/espacenet

Patent searching (US, EP, PCT)- free

• USPTO: http://www.uspto.gov• PCT at www.wipo.org • EP at

www.european-patent-office.org/espacenet

• www.piug.org has lists of other patent offices.

Patent searching - Vendors

• STN (SciFinder)• DERWENT• DELPHION• Micropatent• Questel-Orbit• Dialog• LexisNexis

Searching fields in addition to subject

• International patent classification number

• Patent application and priority number

• Patent countries• Patent numbers• Structure• Inventor / Assignee

STN/CAS

• Patent coverage in Chemical Abstracts– http://www.cas.org/EO/caspat.html

• Lists countries covered• Lists IPC classes covered• Patent searching user’s guide

http://www.cas.org/ONLINE/UG/ugcover.html

Kind Codes

• US United States• A Granted US Patent (issued

prior to Jan. 2, 2001)• A1 US Patent Application (issued

on or after Jan. 2, 2001)• B1 Granted Patent (no pre-grant

publication; issued on or after Jan. 2, 2001)

Patent families

• Use of fluoxetine or norfluoxetine as anti-anxiety agents - pref.  administered orally as hydrochloride salts

•  Patent Assignee: (ELIL ) LILLY & CO ELI• Author (Inventor): STARK P• Patent Family: • Patent No Kind Date Examiner Field

of Search • GB 2137496 A 841010 (BASIC) • AU 8426457 A 841011 • DE 3413093 A 841011 • DE 3467704 G 880107

Patent Families, 2

• Patent No Kind Date Examiner Field of Search

• DK 166479 B 930601 • DK 8401132 A 841009 • EP 123469 A 841031 • EP 123469 B 871125 • GB 2137496 B 861001 • IT 1175977 B 870812 • JP 59193821 A 841102 • JP 94035382 B2 940511 • US 4590213 A 860520 • ZA 8402457 A 851001

PCT Patent

• WO 9606391 A3 960509 364/496; 364/497; 364/499; 395/600

• Derwent Week (Basic): 9615Priority Data: US 288503 (940810)

• Applications: US 288503 (940810); AU 9533202 (950810); EP 95929457 (950810 ); WO 95US10171 (950810); JP 96508133 (950810); US 883165 (970626)

• Designated States (National): AM; AT; AU; BB; BG; BR; BY; CA; CH; CN; CZ; DE; DK; ES; FI; GB; GE; HU; JP; KE; KG; KP; KR; KZ; LK; LT; LU; LV; MD; MG; MN; MW; MX ; NO; NZ; PL; PT; RO; RU; SD; SE; SI; SK; TJ; TT; UA; US; UZ; VN (Regional): AT; BE; CH; DE; DK; ES; FR; GB; GR; IE; IT; KE; LI; LU; MC; MW; NL; OA; PT; SD; SE; SZ; UG

Patent examples

• Chemical structure searching US 4642762; US 5577239; US 5950192

• Scriptgen Pharmaceuticals• Cubist Pharmaceuticals

Summary

• Patent searching is exciting – it shows what is new

• New methods and sources are appearing every day to make this searching easy.

• This has been a quick overview—but it is like everything else – practice, practice, practice.