Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Use definition

What does Use mean? In legal practice, Use describes any act of dealing with information, materials, works, data or technology. It is usually a contractual umbrella term capturing a broad range of actions, commonly including to distribute, disclose, store, use, analyse, copy, reproduce, extract, modify or adapt, whether in whole or in part. Use is not generally fixed by statute; its scope turns on the wording of the relevant agreement and context. That said, it intersects with specific legal regimes. In intellectual property, “use” of a trade mark in the course of trade (UK Trade Marks Act 1994; Irish Trade Marks Act 1996) and the...

Second Medical Use Patents: Novelty, claim formats (EPC 2000 and Swiss-type), UK enforcement, SPCs and skinny labelling

Published by a LexisNexis Life Sciences expert

Practice notes

Background to medical Use Claims

Second (and later) medical use Patent claims (called ‘second medical use claims’ below) are unique to the pharmaceutical/biotechnology sectors and serve to delineate an invention’s ambit by specifying a medical use. For a primer on these and other categories of patent claim, see Practice Note: Major types of patent claims. There are two distinct forms of second medical use claim, outlined in greater detail below. Making the medical use an explicit feature of a claim affects both its patentability and the breadth of protection. To place second medical use claims in context, it should be recognised that they originated under the earlier 1973 version of the European Patent Convention (EPC 1973), which has since been superseded by the EPC 2000. The earliest second medical use claims allowed by the European Patent Office (EPO) from the mid-1980s to 2010 adopted the wording ‘the use of a product [X] in the manufacture of a medicament for a therapeutic use [Y]’, and are known as ‘Swiss-type’ claims. Consequently, they were process claims devised to circumvent two fundamental issues concerning patentability...

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Andrew Bowler

Bristows

Andy has specialised in contentious intellectual property matters, including related advisory work, since qualification in 1999. His advice covers the full range of intellectual property rights, with a particular emphasis on patents, trademarks, registered designs and trade secrets.Andy has considerable experience of representing high profile clients in cases in the UK High Court, the IP Enterprise Court and the Court of Appeal. He has also been responsible for opposition and cancellation proceedings in the UK IP Office, EPO and OHIM. Andy is regularly involved in the co-ordination of proceedings with parallel actions elsewhere in the EU and US and also has experience of litigation in China. He has conducted several successful mediations of IP disputes.Andy advises clients across a wide range of technologies, including complex mechanical and FMCG products, mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, electronics and medical devices as well as music, films and other media. Andy has...

Adrian Chew

Bristows

Over the last 6 years Adrian has specialised in patent disputes, particularly in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. Since qualifying as a solicitor in 2013 he has been closely involved in proceedings before the Patents Court, Court of Appeal and EPO including Teva v Leo (calciportriol/betamethasone), Actavis v Eli Lilly (atomoxetine) and Warner Lambert v NHS England (pregabalin), as well as advising clients on a variety of other patent matters. Adrian also has experience coordinating patent litigation in other jurisdictions, in particular as part of a team assisting a top pharmaceutical company in enforcing its worldwide patent protection for a key blockbuster product....

Milly Wickson

Solicitor, Bristows

Milly is an associate in the Patent Litigation team at Bristows. She advises on a wide range of issues across the life sciences and technology sectors, but has a particular interest in pharmaceuticals. Recent experience includes UK litigation in the small molecule and biologics spaces, supporting oppositions at the European Patent Office and giving freedom to operate advice on medical and consumer devices. Milly has also assisted with multi-jurisdiction coordination projects and gained commercial experience working at a leading pharmaceuticals company....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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