More bang for your buck: second medical use and the EPC 2000
Under Article 54(5) of the European Patent Convention (EPC) 2000, known substances or compositions are deemed novel provided they are for any specific use in a medical method provided that such use is not comprised in the state of the art (ie, second or further medical use) (this is derived from Article 54[4] EPC 1973).
If you don't have a login or your access has expired, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content.
For more information on individual annual subscriptions for full paid access and corporate subscription options please contact us.
To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk
29 September 2026 The gene-editing company has accused a former employee of secretly co-founding a Chinese biotech while still at the company, in a trade secrets lawsuit involving rival base-editing therapies and disputed patent filings.
21 September 2026 Judges agreed with the Oxford University spin-out that MGI Tech was likely to infringe Oxford’s patent, and banned sales of certain Cyclone devices to preserve the one-player-market status quo.