Practice question
A drug patent application claims only a newly identified polymorph of a known substance. The stipulated evidence establishes no significant difference in properties regarding efficacy and no enhancement of known efficacy; no other qualifying technical feature is claimed. The applicant says identifying a new form alone necessarily guarantees patentability. Which answer follows RA 9502's amendments?
- Any newly named polymorph necessarily receives a patent.
- Known-substance efficacy is irrelevant under the amendment.
- The amendment categorically prohibits every drug invention.
- The stated mere new-form discovery falls within the amended exclusion; identifying a form alone does not satisfy the required statutory distinction.
- A new trademark automatically establishes inventive step.
Legal references
- Intellectual Property Code, RA 8293, sections 21–27, https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1997/ra_8293_1997.html
- RA 9502, sections 5–6 amending IP Code sections 22.1 and 26, https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2008/ra_9502_2008.html
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