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World
Intellectual Property - IP Laws - Germany
Utility
models for new medical indications:
Under German
Law, an invention may be protected simultaneously by a granted patent
and a registered utility model.
Unlike patents,
German utility models are registered for formal requirements conferring
the same legal effects as a patent albeit for a period of 10 years.
This opens the possibility for tailoring an enforceable protective
right converting specific products offered or marketed by a competitor.
It is important to note that German utility models - contrary to
patents - do not allow for the protection of methods and processes
and would bar inventions relating to a second medical use, that
is a novel therapeutic use of a known drug from utility model protection.
In a recent
decision, the German Supreme Court stated that a claim referring
to the use of an active agent in a medicament for treating a specific
condition is an allowable claim format for a utility model.
The ground for the decision that the Supreme Court considered was
the exclusion of process claims is a claim referring to the use
of a known drug for a new medicinal indication has more elements
of a product claim than of a process claim, as enumerated under
the German Utility Model Law.. As a consequence, applicants
who want to promptly obtain an enforceable protective right in Germany
should in future put filing utility models on their agenda.
For example, a registered German utility model which is derived
from a European patent application and protecting a second medical
indication can be a suitable tool to prevent competitors from entering
the market in Germany.
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queries relating to our services and costs, please feel free to
contact us at info@iprfirm.com.
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