| In the fast-moving area of biopharma research
and development, efficient intellectual property (IP)
strategies are becoming increasingly important as
companies seek to protect their innovations at every
stage of development. But what is best practice and
what can biopharma companies learn from past
successes and failures?
The biopharma industry is relatively
new and, to some extent, the application
of European patent law in this
important field of research and
development, which attracts a high
level of private sector investment, is
still evolving. For this reason, it is
particularly important for biopharma
companies to stay abreast of legal
developments in order to develop
intellectual property strategies that
allow them to exploit the full
commercial value of their activities.
The nature of biopharma ‘products’
makes seeking patent protection more
complex than in many other areas of
scientific research. When seeking patent
protection for a specific protein, for
example, it may be difficult to predict
what effects could be produced if minor
modifications are made, such as altering
one or more amino acids.
Without
undertaking extensive research prior to
filing a patent application, it is possible
that competitors could gain advantage
over the holders of the original patent by
using a modified version of the protein
that functions in substantially the same
manner as the protein protected by the
original patent. In other words, the
competitors develop a modified version
of the patented protein so that they can
avoid infringing the patent.
THE PATENT PROTECTION DILEMMA
The purpose of a patent is to protect
commercially useful technology |
