T 0241/95 (Serotonin receptor/ELI LILLY) of 14.06.2000

I. The selective occupation of a receptor cannot be considered in itself as a therapeutic application; the discovery that a substance selectively binds a receptor, even if representing an important piece of scientific knowledge, still needs to find a practical application in the form of a defined, real treatment of any pathological condition in order to make a technical contribution to the art and to be considered as an invention eligible for patent protection (see reasons, point 3.1.2).

II. When a claim is directed to a further therapeutic application of a medicament and the condition to be treated is defined in functional terms, e.g. any condition susceptible of being improved or prevented by selective occupation of a specific receptor, the claim can be regarded as clear only if instructions, in the form of experimental tests or any testable criteria, are available from the patent documents or from the common general knowledge allowing the skilled person to recognise which conditions fall within the functional definition and accordingly within the scope of the claim (see reasons, point 3.1.1) (following T 68/85, Synergistic herbicides/ CIBA-GEIGY, OJ EPO 1987, 228).