不請律師-自己申請專利(12):中藥專利on風濕性關節炎

有朋友問:“我在美國行中醫，有自己的診所…我也有很好的治療青春痘的藥，想開發出產品，不知能否在美國申請專利？” 

首先，完成任務，回答問題。答案是能。 

其次，請允許我借此機會稍微展開一點談。中藥專利問題是一個沉重的話題。傳統中藥曾經為我們的父輩們服務了幾千年，至今還在為我們服務，我們沒有理由不感激中藥和珍愛中藥。傳統中藥是古老的，東方的，經驗的，有時候還搞迷信。相對而言，專利製度卻實是年輕的，西方的(就起源來說)，與近代科技相關的。傳統中藥在專利製度中麵臨一些西藥通常不會麵對的問題，比如說，在幹部能上這方麵，傳統中藥會比西藥多吃點虧，CLAIM無法寫得完全像西藥的。舉一個例子，西藥對活性化合物的確認，表征，合成要更精確，對藥物組合物的成分確定和定量也要更準確。西藥對藥理和毒理的研究也更細致深入。因為我前麵還沒有詳細談幹部能上的問題，所以這篇短文先給朋友們舉例說明一下中藥專利申請中幹部能下的問題。 

去年六月分，美國專利局給廣東的李大夫批了一個中藥專利。這個中藥是用來治療風濕性關節炎的。我們來研究一些片段，欣賞一下李大夫是如何幹部能下，教會普姑娘如何製造和使用他的發明的。這樣大家對幹部下到什麽程度，有個真實而具體的感覺。 

李大夫先告訴普姑娘，這副中藥含九味藥材，各是什麽，各可從哪些省份找到，各是多少克(與時俱進，不用錢兩)。九味藥材是威靈仙，獨活，羌活，防風或旁風，秦艽，當歸，川芎，杜仲，牛膝。李大夫先告訴普姑娘什麽樣的植物用作威靈仙: The dried root of Clematis chinensis Osbeck, Clematis hexapetala Pall., Clematis uhcinata Champ., Clematis armandi Franch., Clematis uncinata Champ. Ex Benth., Clematis meyeniana Walp., Clematis henryi Oliv., Clematis finetiana Levl. Et Vant., Clematis manshurica or Clematis paniculata Thunb. Rupr was used in the first herbal composition. The Radix Clematidis is also harvested from the root of Smilax scobinicaulis C. H. Wright, Smilax Stans Maxim., Smilax sieboldi Miq., Veronicastrum sibiricum (L.) Pennell, or Inula nervosa Wall. 李大夫告訴普姑娘這些藥材在中國的哪些省份可以找到:  The roots were obtained from the Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong, and Fujian provinces of China. 餘八味藥材的內容同理，在此省略。 

李大夫先接著告訴普姑娘九味藥材的配方: Radix Clematidis 12 g Radix Angelicae Pubescentis 10 g Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii 10 g Radix Saposhnikoviae 10 g Radix Gentianae Macrophyllae 10 g Radix Angelicae Sinensis 20 g Rhizoma Chuanxiong 15 g Cortex Eucommiae 10 g Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae 10 g. 一步一步如何配製中藥膠囊: a. Individually weigh the herbs; b. Wash and dry the herbs; c. Cut the dried herbs into small pieces. d. Grind the dry herbs into powder; f. Pass the powder through an about 100 mesh; g. Pour about 0.3 g of the powder into a capsule. 一步一步如何配製中藥藥酒: a. Put 700 kg powder prepared in (I) into a 5000 L container; b. Add 3500 L 50 degree liquor into the container and stir every 2 hours for 3 days(攪拌三天，真不容易); c. Add 1500 L water into the container and stir every 2 hours for 3 days(又攪拌三天); d. Filtrate residue and collect the supernatant. 

如何用藥酒對比治療一組風濕性關節炎患者: Observe group, 20 patients, was treated with ARL (30 ml/d). It was taken before sleep or equally divided to be taken in the morning and evening. In the mean time, active control group, 20 patients, was treated with the combination of Methotrexate (MTX) (once a week, 7.5 mg), Mian IV (a recipe contain 28 ingredients, a house made medicine for RA in this hospital, one preparation per day) and one NSAID, such as Fenbid, Arthrotec, etc. 療效reportedly顯著，在此省略。 

如何用中藥膠囊對比治療一組風濕性關節炎患者: Thirty-six (36) typical active RA patients were selected and randomly divided into two groups. Observe group, 18 patients, was treated with ARC (4 capsules t.i.d., each capsule is about 0.3 g). In the mean time, 18 patients in the active control group were treated with the combination of Methotrexate (once a week, 10 mg), Folic acid (daily, 5 mg) and Arthrotec (b.i.d. 50 mg). 療效reportedly顯著，在此省略。 

李大夫特別描述了一位令人同情的長達20年的風濕性關節炎患者，手腫得很厲害，什麽也幹不成: The patient was a 53 years old male farmer with about 20 years RA history…The patient complained long duration of morning stiffness, rest pain, fatigue and apparent swelling on his hand. He was most of time staying in bed. 中藥藥酒療效reportedly顯著，有手照片對比，在此省略。 

想仔細研究這個專利的朋友，可以進一步查閱美國專利7553506. 有問題但不想公開交流，請使用[e-mail]