Dr. Nobel discovered a new method of treating Alzheimer’s involving a special method of diagnosing the disease, treating it with a new medicine that has been discovered after long experimentation and field testing, and novel mental isometric exercises. He comes to you for advice on how he can have his discoveries protected.
Can he legally protect his new method of diagnosis, the new medicine, and the new method of treatment? If no, why? If yes, how? (4%)
Suggested answer only. Not an official answer and not legal advice.
Dr. Nobel can legally protect only the new medicine by obtaining a patent, while his method of diagnosis, method of treatment, and mental exercises cannot be patented. Under Section 21 of R.A. 8293, a technical solution
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Quick check
Which of Dr. Nobel's discoveries is legally patentable under Section 21 of the Intellectual Property Code (R.A. 8293)?
Under Section 21 of R.A. 8293, the new pharmaceutical medicine is a patentable product invention.
Why are methods of diagnosis and treatment of the human body non-patentable under Section 22.8 of R.A. 8293?
Section 22.8 explicitly excludes diagnostic and treatment methods from patentability for public policy reasons.
Under Section 22.2 of R.A. 8293, why are mental isometric exercises excluded from patent protection?
Section 22.2 expressly excludes schemes, rules, and methods of performing mental acts from patentability.
What three statutory requisites must a product satisfy to be patentable under Section 21 of R.A. 8293?
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How can Dr. Nobel legally protect his newly discovered medicine under Philippine intellectual property law?
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1. Patentable Product Inventions
Under Section 21 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (Republic Act Number 8293), any technical solution of a problem in any field of human activity which is new, involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable shall be patentable. A newly discovered pharmaceutical medicine produced through long experimentation and field testing qualifies as a patentable product invention. Obtaining a patent grants the inventor exclusive rights to restrain third parties from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the drug without authorization.
2. Medical Method Exclusions
Under Section 22.8 of the Intellectual Property Code (Republic Act Number 8293), methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, and diagnostic methods practiced on the human or animal body, are expressly excluded from patent protection. The public policy rationale seeks to ensure that medical practitioners remain unhindered by patent monopolies when diagnosing and treating patients. Consequently, neither a special diagnostic method nor a novel therapeutic treatment method for Alzheimer's disease can be validly patented.
3. Mental Act Exclusions
Under Section 22.2 of the Intellectual Property Code (Republic Act Number 8293), schemes, rules, and methods of performing mental acts, playing games, or doing business are non-patentable inventions. Mental isometric exercises designed to treat cognitive decline rely on cognitive processes and personal mental routines, placing them squarely within the statutory exclusion for mental acts. Such mental exercises cannot be protected by patent rights, though written instructional guides describing them may receive copyright protection.