An interesting article from Law.com states that a surge in patents that protect surgeries and other medical methods has triggered
numerous lawsuits in recent years, with inventors fighting more vigorously than
ever to protect their intellectual property rights.
Patent lawyers say doctors and scientists are suing to protect everything from laser eye surgery techniques to methods for declawing a cat.
Dragseth cited the recent case of Dr. Gary Michelson, who in 2005 received a $1.35 billion settlement after suing a medical device company over his patented spinal surgical technique that speeds recovery. Medtronic v. Michelson, No. 01cv2373 (W.D. Tenn.).
Patent attorney Eric Raciti of the Cambridge, Mass., office of Washington's Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, said that method patents have become "the bread and butter of patent-getting" in the medical community for a good reason. He said that with most advances, it's the procedure that's novel, not the material that goes into it. For example, he said, a doctor may want to fix a certain type of incision in an organ. It might just be a piece of gauze that does the trick, but the way you apply it is what's truly innovative.
Correct me if I'm wrong but as I recall, methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body are not patentable in Europe because they are not regarded as inventions which are susceptible of industrial application. This provision, set out in Article 52(4) of the European Patent Convention (EPC), is also embodied in the National laws of the member states of the EPC.
Being sued because you have your patients best interest in mind and performing the best therapeutic or diagnostic method sounds absolutely ridiculous. It really surprises me that you
can hold a monopoly over a therapeutic or diagnostic methods. Even for
the US, this is taking it a bit far don't you think?
