1. LAW, PATENT, TRADEMARK & DESIGN and ACCOUNTING
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November 18, 2007
APAA 54th Council Meeting 2007 Alelaide, Australia Emerging Intellectual Property Rights Committee
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Opposition filed by
Ajanta of Arjuna Natural Extracts Ltd
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Kazuaki Okimoto
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Yuasa & Hara

2. Ajanta filed an opposition against a patent application filed by the father and son team on the ground of lack of novelty and inventive step.

3. Summary of Opposition
Nanocurcumin is not novel by virtue of simply being smaller than curcumin, a known substance; as the reproduction of a known product at an atomic scale does not meet the requirements of novelty and inventive step under the Indian Patent Act.
The increased bioavailability of curcumin on account of its greater absorption into the bloodstream was possible through a number of methods, such as the one used in the preparation of Biocurcumax and was thus an obvious outcome of the process for preparing Nanocurcumin.
On account of the existence of Biocurcumax in the market, Nanocurcumin cannot be said to have overcome a previously unsolved technical drawback.
The reduction of Curcumin to Nanocurcumin is obvious and cannot be said to be patentable as such.

4. Lack of Novelty and Inventive Step

5. Insolubility of curcumin
curcumin exhibits therapeutic effects in a human body = well-known in the art
A lot of approaches made to enjoy the effects of curcumin through oral administration.
Insolubility of curcumin
a top-down approach, by which structures are made smaller and smaller until they reach a nanometric scale
a bottom-up approach, by which elements are selected on a nanoscale and are assembled to form a substance or mechanism.

6. WO/2006/12932 with the publication date of July 12, 2006
“Curcumin is not simply an alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), which also have anti-inflammatory and cancer chemopreventive properties.”, “Despite its impressive array of beneficial bioactivities, the bioavailability of curcumin in animals and man remains low.”, and “Oral administration of curcumin also inhibits the initiation of radiation-induced mammary and pituitary tumors.”, at Background Art”.

7. It is recognized to be well known for those skilled in the art to reduce the size of curcumin to be as small as possible to enjoy the therapeutic effects of curcumin through oral administration.

8. WO/2006/12932 discloses the invention of a mixture of the essential oil of turmeric and curcumin to enhance the bioavailability of curcumin to enjoy the therapeutic effects of curcumin through oral administration.

9. Incentive and Motivation
Search for an alternative material for use as the essential oil.
Attempt to replace the essential oil with other possible material to enjoy more therapeutic effects of curcumin. A hydrophilic material could be easily selected by those skilled in the art to enhance solubility to bloodstream.

10. WO/2006/12932
“in order to derive full benefits from the administration of curcumin in human subjects, ways and means to enhance its bioavailability needs to be explored. The present invention is an effort in this direction. It was found that when the essential oil of turmeric was added to curcumin, the bioavailability of curcumin is significantly enhanced. Accordingly, a composition of curcumin admixed with a suitable proportion of turmerone (the main component of the turmeric essential oil) is provided.”

11. It is recognized to be a matter of design for those skilled in the art to select a hydrophilic polymer as the exterior of the particle.

12. Therefore, it is recognized that the subject invention could have been easily carried out by those skilled in the art by modifying the particle structure of the essential oil and curcumin in the mixture to that of hydrophilic exterior and curcumin, by choosing a suitable polymer as the hydrophilic exterior in place of the essential oil, to enhance its bioavailability for enjoying the therapeutic effects of curcumin.

13. LAW, PATENT, TRADEMARK & DESIGN and ACCOUNTING
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Thank you for your attention !
Kazuaki Okimoto
Patent Attorney
Yuasa & Hara
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