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Therapeutic Or Cosmetic? Patent Strategies For Dual-Use Innovations

 
• By Mairi Rudkin

In the pharma and cosmetic sectors, innovation often arises from new uses for known compounds. While the compounds may not be patentable, their new applications can be. European law allows patents on substances used in medical methods, but not on the methods themselves.

(Shutterstock)

In the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors, innovation often stems from discovering new applications for known compounds. In these situations, an innovator cannot patent the compound itself since the compound itself is not novel. But they may still seek protection for its newly identified use. Critically the nature of the new use (e.g. therapeutic or cosmetic) determines the type of patent claims that can be pursued in Europe.

Under the European Patent Convention (EPC), patents cannot be granted for methods of treating the human or animal body by surgery, therapy, or diagnostic practices

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