The Japan
Patent Office to begin the examination for advanced medical
technology patents in July 2003; the new examination
guideline applies to applications currently being examined
Under the current Japanese patent law, medicine
or medical equipment may be granted a patent. However,
patent rights have not traditionally applied to medical
activities. More specifically, according to the draft
report submitted by a special committee formed by the
Japanese government in October 2002, "methods for treatment
of the human body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic
methods practiced on human cannot be granted a patent."
After
considerable discussions with regard to the necessity of
revising the current Japanese patent law and the examination
guideline, the Japanese patent System Subcommittee finally
approved in early June 2003 the aforementioned report on an
amendment to the current patent law.
Under the
new Japanese patent law, technologies related to
regenerative medicine and gene therapy will become
patentable. Please
click
here to read the details of the report (PDF)
released by the Japan Patent Office (JPO).
According
to the new patent examination guideline drafted by the JPO
on July 7, 2003, the following applications are applicable
to the new standard:
1. New
patent applications;
2. Applications for which the applicants have already
requested the examination and are currently being examined;
3. Applications that have been rejected as a result of the
initial examination but the applicants have filed an appeal
against the final decision of rejection.
The JPO
is expected to examine approximately 150 patents related to
the medical inventions that were not patentable before, but
will be applicable to the new standard. The
examination will begin as soon as the fourth week of July
2003.
