Biography/Memoir

Can a company patent the basic components of psychedelic therapy?

“Psilocybin is in the public domain, which is why no one can go out and claim psilocybin,” she said. “We own it. So whatever anyone files on, it’s got to be beyond that. It’s got to stay out of the public domain, and that’s the kind of scrutiny a patent examiner will give these claims.”

Compass’s application is a PCT application, which stands for Patent Cooperation Treaty. 153 countries around the world have signed the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and filing it this way allows an applicant to file a single application in all of the countries that are signatories. When a PCT application is filed, an international search report is issued, and a search examiner looks over the claims and identifies any references that may be relevant – it can give an applicant a heads-up on what an examiner may flag, even though the international search report itself is not binding. For this patent application, the search examiner did already identify academic papers on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, among them papers from Imperial College London in 2016 and 2018.

Original Article (Vice):
Can a company patent the basic components of psychedelic therapy?
Artwork Fair Use: Nightcrafter

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