Patent decision
- BL number
- O/508/15
- Concerning rights in
- GB1302651.3, GB1302653.9, GB1302654.7, GB1302924.4, GB1302925.1, GB1302926.9, GB1302928.5, GB1302929.3, GB1303865.8, GB1303867.4, GB1303868.2 and GB1303983.9
- Hearing Officer
- Dr L Cullen
- Decision date
- 29 October 2015
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Oleg Iliich Epshtein
- Provisions discussed
- Sections 1(1)(a), 1(1)(c) and 14(3)
- Keywords
- Industrial application, Novelty, Sufficiency
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The applications relate to the preparation of ultra low dose (ULD) antibody compositions and the use of said compositions in the treatment of a number of diseases. The ultra low dose compositions are prepared by a process of serial dilutions that result in a final concentration of antibody that is well below the “Avogadro limit”, as acknowledged in the applications. These ultra-low dilutions of antibodies, referred as ‘activated-potentiated forms’ or ‘release-active forms’, are therefore statistically unlikely to contain even a single molecule of antibody.
The Hearing Officer considered, in light of the judgment in Blacklight Power Inc. v The Comptroller-General of Patents [2009] RPC 6 and the decisions in BL O/114/08 and BL O/170/09 ((Blacklight Power Inc.’s Applications), whether the ultra low doses of antibodies were capable of industrial application. The Hearing Officer found that, there was a substantial doubt that the disclosed inventions operate in a manner that is consistent with accepted scientific principles and that, on the balance of probabilities, there is not a reasonable prospect that the Applicant’s theory might turn out to be valid if it were to be investigated at trial with the benefit of expert evidence. Therefore the applications were all found to lack both industrial applicability and sufficiency under sections 1(1)(c) and 14(3) of the Act, and the applications were refused under Section 18(3) of the Act.
Full decision O/508/15 
419Kb
