8. Novelty of "reach-through" claims 

"Reach-through" claims are claims aimed at obtaining protection for a chemical product (and also its uses, compositions, etc.) by defining that product functionally in terms of its action (e.g. agonist, antagonist) on a biological target such as an enzyme or receptor (see F‑III, 9). In many such cases, the applicant functionally defines chemical compounds in this way by reference to a newly identified biological target. However, compounds which bind to and exercise this action on that biological target are not necessarily novel compounds simply because the biological target which they act on is new. Indeed, in many cases, the applicants themselves provide test results in their applications which show that known compounds exert this action on the new biological target. They thereby demonstrate that compounds falling within the functional definition of the "reach-through" claim are known in the state of the art and so establish that a reach-through claim relating to compounds defined in this way lacks novelty.