IPA patent 5.6.8.12-micro-organisms-and-other-life-forms — IP Australia Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure – 5.6.8.12 Micro-Organisms and Other Life Forms

Also in this Chapter: 5.6.8.1 General Principles – Assessing Manner of Manufacture ; 5.6.8.2 Alleged Invention 5.6.8.3 Fine Arts 5.6.8.4 Discoveries, Ideas, Scientific Theories, Mere Schemes, and Plans 5.6.8.5 Printed Matter 5.6.8.6 Computer Implemented Inventions, Mere Schemes, and Business Methods 5.6.8.7 Games and Gaming Machines 5.6.8.8 Mathematical Algorithms 5.6.8.9 Methods of Testing, Observation, and Measurement 5.6.8.10 Mere Working Directions 5.6.8.11 Nucleic Acids and Genetic Information ​​​​​​​ 5.6.8.13 Treatment of Human Beings 5.6.8.14 Human Beings and Biological Processes for Their Generation 5.6.8.15 Agriculture and Horticulture 5.6.8.16 Combinations, Collocations, Kits, Packages, and Mere Admixtures 5.6.8.17 New Uses 5.6.8.18 Other Issues (e.g. contrary to law etc) 5.6.8.19 Useful (utility) ​​​​​​​ Annex A - History of Manner of Manufacture Key Legislation: Patents Act: s6 Deposit requirements s18(1)(a) Patentable inventions Schedule 1 Dictionary ​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​Related Chapters: 3.3.4 Reserving Opinion and Restricting Search ​​​​​​​ 5.5 Construction of Specifications, Claims 5.6.1.4 Balance of Probabilities . 5.6.6 Inventive step 5.6.7 Full Disclosure, Sufficiency, Clarity, Support (s40) In considering whether a claimed micro-organism is patentable, examiners should determine the substance of the claim and whether that substance is “made” following the principles outlined in 5.6.8.11 Nucleic Acids and Genetic Information . In general, where the substance of a claim is the organism, and not genetic information, the organism may be patentable if the technical intervention of man has resulted in an artificial state of affairs which does not occur in nature (that is, the substance is “made”). Office practice is that the isolation and cultivation of naturally occurring micro-organisms satisfy the requirements for technical intervention. A claim to a biologically pure culture of the naturally occurring micro-organism is also acceptable. In determining whether an organism is “made”, in Ranks Hovis McDougall Ltd's Application [1976] AOJP 3915 the hearing officer decided that: any new variants claimed must have improved or altered useful properties and not merely have changed morphological characteristics which have no effect on the working of the organism; naturally occurring micro-organisms per se are not patentable as they represent a discovery and not an invention; and a claim to a pure culture of the micro-organism would satisfy the requirements for technical intervention.