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ARTICLE · 22 JUNE 2022

Patenting Antibodies In The US And Europe

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Is the USPTO now stricter than the EPO on antibody claims? A consideration of recent developments from both sides of the pond.

GlobalIntellectual Property
Ellie Purnell
Ellie Purnell
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Is the USPTO now stricter than the EPO on antibody claims? A consideration of recent developments from both sides of the pond.

Patent protection for monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies and nanobodies, as well as CAR-T and CAR-NK cells may represent an important aspect for a company's intellectual property position. Companies seeking protection in the United States should consider the different criteria for obtaining patent protection, and especially how this differs from the position in Europe. In the US, a patentable biologic must meet the written description and enablement requirements, among other things. These requirements are similar in many ways to the sufficiency and support requirements in Europe, essentially defining that an invention must have been adequately described in the application as filed, but also that it has been exemplified and shown to work. Whilst these requirements have always been in place, a recent line of case law in the US has

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