4 ms·

Aren't drugs patents ideas and not implementations?

• lightedman 8y ago
  Generally, drug patents list the molecular structure, chemical formula, and specific method which they utilize to arrive at the finished product.
  • dick_sucker2 8y ago
    If a drug patent hasn't passed phase 3 trials isn't it just an idea?
    • jeffreyrogers 8y ago
      You don't have to have a physically working thing to patent it. You can patent something that's just an "idea" as long as the idea is physically realizable. Ideally the patent examiner knows enough about the field that patent is in to decide whether something is likely to work in practice or whether it is just some bogus invention that has no chance of working.
    • bdowling 8y ago
      Clinical trials and regulatory approval are independent of the patent process. This should make sense because a patent is a right to exclude others, not a right to do something. For example, just because you have a patent on a new drug doesn't mean you can actually sell it to patients.