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January 04, 2018

Comments


May I draw attention to a 2007 paper by my friend David Musker entitled "The great free beer debate, or what ales the patent system." It was given away free, but now I think you have to buy a copy from Oxford University Press.

It deals with the patentability of beer as such under the European Patent Convention and records the attitudes of such predatory corporate giants as International Brewing Machines. One of his points is that the objection to the patent protection for beer as such was based on its stupefying effect, such that after a prolonged novelty search those who had been carrying the search out could no longer remember the results.

Possibility the same difficulty could arise in the case of cannabis patents.

I had an application rejected for being “illegal”. It was on the use of fluoride in early pregnancy to prevent birth defects. Not only is prenatal fluoride illegal, but I was also hit on this logic: I could not afford a clinical trial, therefore I could never get labeling, therefore no utility.
(Ancient long CIP: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ryekrte116u79o/Osteo%20CIP%205%2012-98%20for%20dropbox.doc?dl=0 )

Thanks for the insight Paul! We'll check it out and report back; but it seems like an interesting and colorful potential corollary.

That's a tough result, Ray. Illegality is one of those rarely-used 101 rejections that can be incredibly difficult to controvert. Thanks for sharing!

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