PATENTABILITY OF MEDICAL METHODS IN EUROPA

Lexology - The European Patent Office’s (EPO’s) approach to patentability in the field of medicine is based on the underlying principle that medical and veterinary practitioners should be free to use their skills and their knowledge of the best available treatments to achieve the utmost benefit for their patients, uninhibited by any worry that some treatment might be covered by a patent (decision G1/07, Reasons 3.3.6). The European Patent Convention therefore includes a general exclusion for medical methods carried out on the body: “European patents shall not be granted in respect of … methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body” (Article 53(c) EPC)...>>>