‘Unexpected’ Hypertension Drug Reaction Fails to Save Patent Bid

The US Patent and Trademark Office correctly rejected an inventor’s application for a patent covering a high blood pressure treatment because he claimed known properties of hypertension drugs, a Federal Circuit panel ruled.

In a Wednesday precedential decision, the court said John L. Couvaras couldn’t prove his regimen, which included “co-administering two well-known types of antihypertensive agents,” produced results in patients that were so revolutionary that his method became patentable.

In doing so, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit clarified a caveat for when an otherwise obvious idea could become eligible for protection.

Couvaras admitted to ...