- Identification of patents by a comprehensive, global patent search
- Grouping by patent family and assignment to development categories
- Interpretation of key aspects of the patent claims
- Click-through access to patent family, images and status
- Monthly updating with change flags
- Litigation alerts
Patent identification, categorisation and interpretation
Combining years of generics industry experience with the most stringent search techniques, Pipeline™ Developer reports contain comprehensive, pre-searched patent information covering molecule, process, formulation and use patents, that are relevant to the development of a given generic.
Patents are grouped by families and sorted by development category
(1) and sub-category
(2) allowing quick analysis of which patents are relevant to a particular development area. The independent claims of each member of the patent family have been analysed and interpreted to prepare the Description of the Claimed Invention
(3), meaning that those without knowledge of patent language can still easily use these reports.
Search coverage
Clicking on a patent family displays detailed information on the 'Core' and 'Non-Core' 'Patent Family Equivalents'. 'Core Patent Family Equivalents'
(4) are equivalent patents from territories that are individually verified and monitored for changes, including British, German, Spanish, French, US, Canadian, Australian, European, and PCT patents. Statuses
(5) are also monitored and updated. 'Extended Patent Family Equivalents'
(6) are equivalent patents found through the INPADOC database, increasing the search coverage to 70 countries.
Patent and national register access
Clicking on a listed patent/application number
(7) or text
(8) or image
(9) link will launch a pop-up window containing an image of the patent
(10), enabling easy analysis of the patent documents. Clicking on a register link
(11) launches a pop-up window with the patent office register extract for that patent. This allows investigation into the examination status of a pending patent, opposition of a granted patent and/or payment of maintenance fees. Please note that no extra charges apply to accessing or downloading documents of any kind.
Litigation alerts
Informing you of developments in court, litigation alerts can also be accessed by clicking on the litigation symbol next to the status
(12), with links to judgements where available.
Updating
To take the time and hassle out of monitoring and updating a large number of patents, all Pipeline™ Developer reporting is updated on a monthly basis. Convenient change flags identify new patent families, new patent family members, changes in statuses and litigation alerts
(13).
Legal status and transaction history
You can also find legal status and transaction history for 'Extended Patent Family Equivalents' by clicking on the INPADOC Family/Legal Status button
(14).
'Pipeline™ Selector' View
Overview and summary data is also displayed in the view (you can also purchase
Pipeline™ Selector reports as a separate module). Data contained includes:
Summary of dosage forms, strengths, indications and active ingredient forms of the brand product.
First to market authorisation dates in key territories (Europe, US, Canada and Australia).
The 'Key Patent Indicator' (below) enables identification of key patents, their coverage, and estimated expiry dates in significant countries. Features include the click-through access to patent documents (1) and national registers (2) for foreign equivalents in key generics markets (US, Great Britain, Germany, Canada and Australia (3). For these territories expiry dates (4) and extensions are shown, and the legal status and patent documents for 65 additional territories (5) are also available at the click of a button.
The 'Patent Risk Analysis' section contains three graphical displays of data drawn from known patent filings to provide valuable competitor insight and development information.
(6) Identifies which area of the generic (molecule, process, formulation or use) are heavily patented, and thus indicates which areas will be problematic.
(7) Identifies the most significant companies actively conducting research and development on this drug.
(8) Maps the types of patents filed over time. Provides an indication of how effectively the generic has been protected.
Reporting and access
All data can be exported into Microsoft Excel and print friendly versions for ease of data manipulation and reporting. Company details are confidential and all data is SSL secure. Five users per company are permitted and access levels are controlled by a nominated 'company administrator'.
Please note that it is important that you read the Scope & Limitations to ensure you are clear on what has been included in a Pipeline™ Developer patent search.
Scope & Limitations of Pipeline™ Developer Reporting
The following information outlines the scope of the comprehensive patent search that forms the basis of Pipeline™ Developer reports, and the inclusion policies applied to the information identified in this way.
Date Coverage
Patent publications up to 24 months prior to the molecule patent priority date are searched. This enables identification of existing patents relating to similar compound types, which may indicate right-of-use. Patent publications are searched to the most recent date that our databases will allow, these dates are shown in the print-friendly version of the Pipeline™ Developer report.
Patent applications may sometimes remain unpublished until more than 18 months after the date of the priority application. Until recently United States patent applications were not made publicly available until issued (granted). Due to the varying examination periods, this has been known to take 10 years or more from the date of application hence some United States applications made prior to 2001 may remain unpublished.
Geographic Coverage
Pipeline™ Developer reports focus on identifying patent publications covering major patent and generics territories including Australian, British, Canadian, French, German, Spanish, and the United States. Our searches also cover European and World (PCT) patent publications.
Searching of multiple territories provides comprehensive results because patents identified by searching one territory reveal equivalents in others, enabling cross-referencing. By using priority information, this search also provides a highly relevant and useful base for locating patents in additional countries by clicking on the View INPADOC Family button.
General Scope
The scope of the search is defined in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of the Pipeline™ Selector report and is based on products containing the API, which are currently registered in Australia, UK and USA. For the purposes of this information, we have defined a generic pharmaceutical as being bioequivalent to the identified innovator products in terms of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, using the same route of administration and carrying the same indications. Additional searching may be required where the generic product to be developed is intended to be registered with different indications or route of administration.
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient
Patents claiming molecular forms of the API are searched, and identified patents included, with the exception of pro-drugs and metabolites unless deemed to be specifically relevant to development of generic pharmaceuticals.
General Intermediates
Patents claiming processes for preparation of the API and key intermediates are searched, and identified patents included. Patents claiming non-key intermediates, which specify use in synthesis of the API are searched, and identified patents included. Patents claiming basic starting materials and far upstream intermediates are not searched specifically and therefore may not have been identified if they do not specify use in synthesis of the API.
Dosage Forms
Formulation patents that claim the API, chemical-type or therapeutic class are searched. Only formulation patents that claim or exemplify the API, chemical-type or therapeutic class are included in the report, providing they do not form part of a universal list, i.e. the essence of the invention must relate solely to a particular API, chemical-type or therapeutic class. Patents relating to dosage forms of a general nature (i.e. not defining a specific API, chemical-type or therapeutic class) are not searched and are not included in the report.
Use Patents
Patents claiming secondary medical use are only included if the use claimed is related to the current indications of the innovator products i.e. the new use must affect a similar part of the body or be used to treat similar symptoms or disease states.
Combinations
Patents relating to the active ingredient in combination with other pharmaceutically active compounds are not included in the reports unless specified.
General Search Limitations
The reports are intended solely to aid the technical development of generic pharmaceuticals of the type listed above and in no way constitutes legal advice. Should information regarding patents or applications not relating to development of a generic pharmaceutical be required, please contact GenericsWeb for assistance. Legal assistance and official status confirmation should be sought prior to acting on any information contained in the reports.
Patent Summary & Development Categories
Patent Summaries and Development categories are assigned to patent families contained in Pipeline™ Developer reports, based on the broadest independent claims of the patent family. As such, a patent family may be assigned to more than one development category, and have more than one description of the claimed invention.
Patent Summaries and Development Categories are assigned as a guide only; the claims of each individual patent in a family will be different. All claims of all patents identified in the Pipeline™ Developer report should be considered before acting upon information contained therein, regardless of the assigned development category. As claims may be amended during prosecution of the patent, all claims of the most recent patent document should be inspected before acting upon information contained in the Patent Summary. Some patents contained in a patent family may not be relevant to the generic pharmaceutical of interest, however inclusion of the family indicates that at least one patent member is relevant.
statuses
Information regarding patent application statuses is provided based on information obtained from unofficial sources. All such information should be checked with the appropriate patent office or organisation before any action is taken based thereon.
