A STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF PATENTS COVERING RECEPTORS AND THEIR USE AS RESEARCH TOOLS FILED SINCE 1993 BY 3 MAJOR COMPANIES

A wide range of different receptors have been patented by Takeda, Merc k and Human Genome Sciences - each the assignee of ca. 30 patent famil ies relating To receptors and published in and after 1993. Many of the patented receptors are G-protein-coupled receptors. The strategies fo llowed by these three major companies when patenting receptors are dis cussed. Their strategies differ considerably and range from the extens ive use of functional reach-through claims by Human Genome Sciences to Takeda's strategy of frequently filing only in Japan, possibly using the Japanese patent application as a prophylactic publication. When re ceptors are patented in only one country by these three and other comp anies, the USA or Japan is chosen most frequently whereas European cou ntries are almost never chosen.