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Chemical patent
 
 
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A chemical patent or pharmaceutical patent is a patent
Patent

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a term of patent in exchange for a disclosure of an invention....
 for an invention in the chemical
Chemical industry

The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. It is central to modern world economy, converting raw materials into more than 70,000 different products....
 or pharmaceuticals industry. Strictly speaking, in most jurisdictions, there are essentially no differences between the legal requirements to obtain a patent for an invention in the chemical or pharmaceutical fields, in comparison to obtaining a patent in the other fields, such as in the mechanical field.






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A chemical patent or pharmaceutical patent is a patent
Patent

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a term of patent in exchange for a disclosure of an invention....
 for an invention in the chemical
Chemical industry

The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. It is central to modern world economy, converting raw materials into more than 70,000 different products....
 or pharmaceuticals industry. Strictly speaking, in most jurisdictions, there are essentially no differences between the legal requirements to obtain a patent for an invention in the chemical or pharmaceutical fields, in comparison to obtaining a patent in the other fields, such as in the mechanical field. A chemical patent or a pharmaceutical patent is therefore not a sui generis
Sui generis

Sui generis is a Neo-Latin expression, literally meaning of its own kind/genus or unique in its characteristics. The expression was effectively created by Scholasticism philosophy to indicate an idea, an entity or a reality that cannot be included in a wider concept....
 right, i.e. a special legal type of patent.

Patents are particularly important in the pharmaceuticals industry where they are used to protect the large investments that are necessary to develop drug
Medication

A pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine or medicament, can be loosely defined as any substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease....
s. Patent protection has a huge bearing on the commercial success of a company. Patents are a core instrument used in the competition between "originator companies" and "generic companies", and between originator companies.

"The so-called "originator" companies are active in research, development, manufacturing, marketing and supply of innovative medicines. These are usually subject to patent protection, needed to provide a reward for innovation and incentives for future research. When patent protection expires, the originator companies lose their exclusive rights to manufacture and market these medicines and generic
Generic drug

A generic drug is a medication which isproduced and distributed without patent protection. The generic drug may still have a patent on the formulation but not on the active ingredient....
 manufacturers can enter the market with medicines that are equivalent to the original medicines, but typically at significantly lower prices. This helps contain public health budgets, contributes to an increase in consumer welfare and creates incentives for further innovation."


Patents in the chemical or pharmaceutical industry are also an important source of technical and bibliographic information. Chemical patents are different from other sources of technical information because of the generic, Markush structures
Claim (patent)

Patent claims are usually in the form of a series of specified elements and corresponding limitations, or more precisely noun phrases, following the description portion of the invention in a patent or patent application....
 contained within them, named after the inventor Eugene Markush who won a claim in the US in 1925 to allow such structures to be used in patent claims. These generic structures are used to make the patent claim as broad as possible.

Further reading

  • European Commission, , 2008 (Public Consultation, Preliminary Report).
  • , a paper given on 29 November 2008 at the Presentation of the Directorate-General of Competition’s Preliminary Report of the Pharma-sector inquiry, by the Rt. Hon. Sir Robin Jacob


See also

  • Biological patent
    Biological patent

    A biological patent is a patent relating to an invention or discovery in biology....
  • Evergreening
    Evergreening

    Evergreening is a method by which technology producers keep their products updated, with the intent of maintaining patent protection for longer periods of time than would normally be permissible under the law....
  • Patients Not Patents
    Patients Not Patents

    Patients Not Patents is a patient advocacy group whose primary activity is challenging the validity of medical patents before the United States Patent and Trademark Office ....
  • Supplementary protection certificate
    Supplementary protection certificate

    In European Union member countries, a supplementary protection certificate is a sui generis, extension of a patent under a specific, different, set of right....


External links

  • , BBC News, March 9, 2005