Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Patents: A Handbook

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Authors:

Marco Stief, Maximilian Haedicke, Annelie Wünsche

• ISBN: 9781849464901
• Published: January 2026
• Format: Hardback
• Language: English
• Publisher: Hart Publishing

Description:

This handbook addresses the special importance and highly technical nature of pharmaceutical, biological, and chemical patents—particularly in European and German patent law. It explores recurring problems in interpretation and scope, including structural alterations such as polymorphism and enantiomerism, and how these may be treated as novel (or as part of the state of the art). It also discusses the legal and policy questions around patenting new medical uses, even where a substance itself is already known, and highlights practical challenges such as accessibility and bioethics.

Key Features:

• Focused analysis of pharmaceutical, biological, and chemical patents in a European context
• Explains technical patent concepts with legal implications (e.g., polymorphism, enantiomerism)
• Addresses novelty and “state of the art” questions in patentability assessments
• Discusses second medical use patents and policy considerations
• Uses case law and decisions (including ECJ-related topics) to illustrate commentary

Coverage:

• European and German patent law issues in pharma/biotech/chemistry
• Scope of protection and how patent families interrelate
• Absolute substance protection and its consequences
• Case-law illustration, including ECJ-related contexts (e.g., “broccoli” and “tomato” patents; embryonic stem cells)
• Practical relevance for in-house and external counsel working with EU-facing products

About the Authors:

The book is authored by experts in the field, with particular emphasis on European and German jurisprudence as a basis for legal analysis and examples.

Table of Contents:

Table of contents information is not included in the attached file. If you would like it added to this page, please share a TOC page or publisher link and I will format it in the same style.

Why buy this book?

• Because pharma/biotech/chemical patents are “high stakes + high complexity,” and small classification details can change enforceability
• Because it links technical features (like polymorphs and stereochemistry) to concrete legal outcomes
• Because it supports practitioners with jurisprudence-led reasoning and real-world relevance for EU markets

Keywords:

pharmaceutical patents, biological patents, chemical patents, patent law, European patent law, German patent law, polymorphism, enantiomerism, second medical use patents, scope of protection, state of the art, novelty, ECJ case law

Target Audience:

patent attorneys, IP lawyers, in-house counsel, pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, chemical companies, technology transfer offices, legal researchers

Genre:

intellectual property law, patent law, pharmaceutical law, biotechnology law, legal handbook, practitioner reference

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