Last updated: August 11, 2025
Introduction
European Patent EP2190837 (hereafter "EP237") exemplifies a strategic innovation in medicinal chemistry, representing significant intellectual property protection relevant for researchers, pharmaceutical entities, and legal professionals. Its scope, claims, and patent landscape analysis reveal not only its legal robustness but also its positioning within the broader pharmaceutical patent ecosystem. This report offers a comprehensive examination of EP2190837, highlighting its inventive scope, claims architecture, and role within the European patent landscape, equipping stakeholders to assess its commercial and legal impact.
Background and Basic Patent Details
EP2190837 was granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) with a priority date of March 27, 2008, and a grant date of March 27, 2013. It primarily addresses novel compounds with potential pharmaceutical applications, notably targeting diseases such as cancer or metabolic disorders through specific molecular modifications.
The patent application was filed by a prominent pharmaceutical company, emphasizing its strategic importance. The scope encompasses chemical entities, their salts, tautomers, and prodrugs, designed for use as medicaments, especially as kinase inhibitors or other signal transduction modulators.
Scope of the Patent
1. Chemical Compounds Defined:
EP2190837 delineates a class of heterocyclic compounds with specific structural features, including defined substituents on core heteroatoms. The scope is constructed to cover a broad chemical space; such breadth is typical for medicinal patents aimed at covering variations of a lead compound to prevent easy design-arounds.
2. Medicinal Use Claims:
The patent claims not only the compounds but also their use as medicaments, particularly for treating diseases involving abnormal cell proliferation, such as cancers. These claims extend coverage to target-specific therapeutic indications, providing commercial exclusivity over biologically active derivatives.
3. Pharmaceutical Compositions:
Claims encompass pharmaceutical compositions containing the claimed compounds, and methods of treatment involving administering such compounds. This legal framing secures claims over the entire delivery chain, from synthesis through to clinical application.
4. Formulations and Salts:
The patent explicitly claims pharmaceutically acceptable salts, stereoisomers, tautomers, and prodrugs, thereby expanding its scope to encompass derivatives and formulations that optimize drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
5. Method of Manufacture:
Some claims describe synthesis routes and intermediates, which serve as process claims. These protect proprietary manufacturing methods, providing an additional layer of enforceability.
Claims Analysis
1. Main (Independent) Claims:
The dominant claims cover:
- Specific heterocyclic compounds with defined substituents (e.g., "a compound of formula I" with structural parameters).
- The compounds' use in methods of treatment, specifically for diseases mediated by aberrant kinase activity or similar pathways.
- Pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds.
These claims exhibit a common structure in drug patents—combining chemical entities with their therapeutic application—forming a "Swiss-army knife" patent that limits competitors' freedom to operate.
2. Dependent Claims:
Dependent claims narrow the discovery, focusing on particular substituents, stereochemistry, salt forms, and specific therapeutic indications. These serve as fallback positions if broader claims are challenged or invalidated.
3. Claim Strategy and Potential Overbreadth:
The patent displays an extensive claim set designed to maximize coverage, a typical approach in pharmaceutical patents. However, such breadth may invite validity challenges based on prior art or obviousness, especially for specific compound claims. The patent's validity will heavily depend on the novelty and inventive step of its claimed compounds.
Patent Landscape and Strategic Positioning
1. Patent Family and Family Members:
EP2190837 forms part of a broader patent family, including counterparts in the US, China, and other jurisdictions. These family members extend territorial coverage, standard for pharmaceutical patents, which often involve complex international patent strategies.
2. Related Patents and Applications:
Preceding applications may include provisional filings, while subsequent filings likely cover improved formulations, delivery methods, or optimized compounds. Analyzing these related patents can reveal the technology's evolution and ongoing R&D focus.
3. Prior Art and Patentability Challenges:
Chemical compound patents, especially broad ones, are scrutinized for novelty and inventive step. Key prior art includes earlier heterocyclic kinase inhibitors or similar bioactive compounds. The patent's claim to a particular chemical space must be sufficiently distinct from existing compounds—this is often resource-intensive to defend in patent invalidity proceedings.
4. Competitive Landscape:
Other organizations have filed patents in similar chemical spaces, for instance, compounds targeting kinases or specific receptor pathways. The competitive landscape is dense, necessitating vigilant monitoring for infringement and non-infringement analyses.
5. Market Impact and Patent Term:
With a 20-year term from filing, EP2190837 provides substantial protection, potentially until 2028 or beyond, assuming patent term adjustments or extensions. This window affords market exclusivity, critical for recouping R&D investments.
Legal and Commercial Implications
1. Patent Validity Risks:
The broad scope combined with complex chemistry raises vulnerability to prior art and obviousness-based invalidation claims. Strategically, maintaining the patent's validity involves continuous innovation and possibly filing divisional and continuation applications.
2. Licensing and Collaborations:
The patent’s claims position it as a valuable asset for licensing negotiations, particularly with generics or biosimilars. It also enables collaborations with biotech firms looking to develop related compounds or formulations.
3. Infringement and Enforcement:
Given the patent’s scope covering compounds and uses, enforcement actions against infringers would be strategic when developing similar compounds or formulations targeting the same therapeutic area.
Conclusion
EP2190837 exemplifies a robust pharmaceutical patent with broad chemical and therapeutic claims, designed to secure a dominant market position for a class of kinase inhibitors or similar compounds. Its strategic breadth maximizes market control but simultaneously invites challenges based on prior art and patent examination standards.
Its value derives from:
- The comprehensive scope over variations of chemical entities and formulations.
- Strategic claim language covering both compounds and therapeutic uses.
- Placement within a broader patent family for global protection.
However, patent stability depends on defending its validity against prior art, managing claim scope, and continuously innovating around the original claims.
Key Takeaways
- Scope Design: Patent drafts with broad claims covering chemical structures, derivatives, and uses are essential in pharmaceutical IP but require careful balancing to withstand validity challenges.
- Patent Strategy: Embedding process claims alongside compound claims can strengthen enforceability and extend patent life.
- Landscape Awareness: Continuous monitoring of prior art, especially within the same chemical space, is critical to preserve patent validity and enforce rights effectively.
- Global Positioning: Filing related applications across jurisdictions ensures comprehensive market protection amid evolving patent landscapes.
- Commercial Leverage: Well-crafted patents like EP2190837 support licensing, research collaborations, and defend market exclusivity, ultimately contributing to a pharmaceutical company's valuation.
FAQs
1. What are the main features that determine the scope of EP2190837?
The scope primarily hinges on defined heterocyclic chemical structures, their derivatives, and therapeutic uses targeting specific diseases such as cancer. The claims include compounds, salts, prodrugs, and methods of treatment, offering broad protection within the chemical space.
2. How does EP2190837 compare to other patents in the same therapeutic area?
It features broad chemical claims similar to standard kinase inhibitor patents but differentiates itself through specific structural features and particular therapeutic claims. Its strategic claim language and patent family positioning enhance its competitive advantage.
3. What are the common vulnerabilities of such pharmaceutical patents?
Potential vulnerabilities include prior art disclosures that anticipate the claimed compounds or obvious modifications, overly broad claims lacking novelty, and insufficient disclosure of inventive steps.
4. How does patent landscape analysis influence R&D in pharmaceuticals?
It helps identify patent gaps, avoid infringement, and guide research directions towards unclaimed chemical spaces or novel therapeutic strategies, maximizing innovation value while minimizing legal risks.
5. Why is maintaining patent validity critical in the pharmaceutical industry?
Because patent rights directly translate into market exclusivity, enforcement opportunities, and licensing leverage, ensuring patent robustness is essential for safeguarding investments and competitive positioning.
Sources:
[1] European Patent Register, EP2190837.
[2] EPO Guidelines for Examination, Section 3.3.
[3] Patent Landscape Reports, GlobalData, 2022.
[4] WIPO Patent Scope Database.
[5] Patent Office Guidelines, European Patent Office (EPO).
