Chemical Patent Practice: Resources for Drafting Chemical Patents

Chemical patents pose a number of unique challenges. Many times significant additional work is needed to help the inventor understand the scope of the invention. A successful reaction with a few chemistries could lead to a narrow chemical patent limited to the reactions pursued if the drafter of the patent doesn't appreciate the big picture in which the chemical species examined are members of a much larger genus. Providing a reasonable generic description of a chemistry that does not become overly speculative and unpredictable (as in not enabled) while still providing useful coverage for the inventor is a complex task requiring searching and good knowledge of chemistry.

One of the best IP courses I took was Chemical Patent Practice from Patent Resources Group. The course notes were extensive and thorough in terms of case law, but not, of course, in the chemistry itself. I still recommend PRG's courses, though they are expensive.

Other resources to consider include:

• Chem. patent searching--Wiki page at the Univ. of Indiana


• PatentWatch at the American Chemical Society


• Derwent, major source of chemical databases for searching


• CAS.org--includes SciFinder, an excellent search tool


• PatBase.com, with good tools for chemical patents

I list a few of my own chemical patents on my biographical information page.