马库什权利要求的修改和部分优先权问题探讨

Discussion of Amendment and Partial Priority Issues of Markush Claims

马库什权利要求是一种能够为化学领域,尤其是医药和生物领域的发明创造提供有效保护的重要的权利要求撰写方式。随着我国鼓励新药研发政策改革的不断深入和保护知识产权力度的持续加强,相信未来涉及马库什权利要求的审查和司法问题会越来越引起人们的关注。近年来,EPO上诉委员会于2016年底作出的最新判例G 1/15解决了困扰欧洲专利界十余年的有毒优先权或有毒分案问题、2015年用于治疗艾滋病的"重磅"药物专利因其马库什权利要求不能享有部分优先权在北京知识产权法院一审被维持无效,这些新闻使马库什权利要求再次成为关注的焦点。通过回顾USPTO和EPO在马库什权利要求的修改和部分优先权的里程碑判例,以期对我国专利实践就此方面的研究提出相应的建议。

Markush claim is an important type of claim that could effectively protect the invention in chemical felds, e.g. the pharmaceutical and biotech felds. With the comprehensively deepening reform in the policies encouraging research and development of innovative drugs and the continuous enhancement in IP protection, it’s believed that the issues in terms of examination and judicial practice for Markush claims would attract more attention in the future. Recently, the news that the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO issued decision G1/15 addressing the poisonous priority, a problem plagued the practitioners for decade, at the end of 2016, and that a patent of a “blockbuster” drug for treating HIV was affrmed invalid in Beijing Intellectual Property Court due to the failure in claiming partial priority for a Markush claim, in 2015, made Markush claims again become the focus of attention. The author tries to provide some suggestions regarding the amendment issue and the partial priority issue of Markush claims, by reviewing and analyzing the milestone cases of USPTO and EPO.