On May 10, 2024, the seventh session of the advisory center for exporters is held
The developer of a method for treating people with hypertension asked whether his development could be patented.
The answer was based on the changed norm of paragraph 3 of Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Patents for Inventions, Utility Models, Industrial Designs” (hereinafter referred to as the Law) as amended by the Law of December 18, 2019 No. 275-Z and the Law of January 9, 2023. No. 243-Z.
In accordance with this Law, methods of providing medical care (medical prevention, diagnosis, treatment, medical rehabilitation and prosthetics) are not recognized as patentable in our country.
At the same time, patenting a method for treating people from hypertension is possible within the Eurasian space through the regional patenting system in the Eurasian Patent Organization. The Eurasian Patent Organization is an international organization established to perform administrative tasks related to the functioning of the Eurasian patent system and the issuance of Eurasian patents. In accordance with Rule 3 “Conditions for the patentability of an invention” of the Patent Instructions to the Eurasian Patent Convention, methods of treatment, prevention, diagnosis, rehabilitation are not directly named in paragraph 4, which indicates objects for which Eurasian patents are not issued:
“plant varieties and animal breeds;
topologies of integrated circuits;
inventions the commercial use of which must be prevented for reasons of public order or morals, including the protection of human and animal life and health or plant conservation, or to avoid causing serious harm to the environment. However, such use cannot be considered as such simply because it is prohibited by the laws of one or more Contracting States.”
At the same time, the patent for a method of treating people from hypertension will apply not only to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, but also to Belarus, subject to the payment of appropriate patent fees for maintaining the patent in these countries.
In addition, as it turned out from the consultant’s counter questions, the treatment method uses a modified device that was previously used to treat another disease. The design of such a modified device can be protected in the Republic of Belarus by a patent for a utility model and a patent for an invention, and within the Eurasian space - a patent for an invention in the form of a device, provided that the conditions for patentability of a utility model (novelty, industrial applicability) or invention (novelty, industrial applicability) are met.For example, a new block diagram of a device, a new set of structural elements of a device, their new relative arrangement, a new design or structural form of an electrode that has not been used for the treatment of another disease can be patented.
