Jump to content

U.s. Government Licenses Patent For Medical Marijuana


Recommended Posts

 

 

U.S. Government Licenses Patent for Medical Marijuana Thursday, December 15, 2011 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is About to Award

Exclusive Rights to Apply Marijuana as a Medical Therapeutic

Deadline for Comment: Monday, Dec. 19

LOS ANGELES, CA – Dec. 15, 2011--The Union of Medical Marijuana Patients has just discovered that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is about to award an exclusive license to KannaLife Sciences, Inc. of New York to develop medical therapeutics based on the chemistry of cannabis. According to the notice in the Federal Register, public comments will be accepted through Monday, December 19.

"We find it hypocritical and incredible that on the one hand, the U.S. Department of Justice is persecuting medical cannabis patient associations, asserting that the federal government regards marijuana as having absolutely no medical value, despite overwhelming clinical evidence," said Union director James Shaw. "On the other hand, the Department of Health and Human Services is planning to grant patent rights with possible worldwide application to develop medicines based on cannabis."

While the Union applauds the U.S. government's efforts into researching the medical value of cannabis, Shaw said, "they should have affirmatively rescheduled cannabis when they discovered it had medical efficacy and, of course, it makes no sense for the government to provide U.S. Patent 6,630,507, which the government owns, to a single company with exclusive rights." He urged medical cannabis patient associations and patients using marijuana for medical reasons to protest this giveaway to one pharmaceutical firm.

Comments need to be submitted in writing by next Monday to Betty B. Tong, Ph.D., Senior Licensing and Patenting Manager, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville MD 20852-3804, fax (301) 402-0220, or tongb@mail.nih.gov.

More information on this issue can be found at www.Unionmmp.org.

Scott SmithThe Union of Medical Marijuana PatientsLos Angeles, CA310-254-4051

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The letter I would write would have one sentence: I vehemently object to DHHS granting permission for KannaLife Sciences, Inc. of New York to develop medical therapeutics based on the chemistry of cannabis because cannabis, according to the federal government, has no accepted medical value or applications.

 

Kurt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are selling a patent on cannibinoids to a private company!

the only place on earth you can find cannabinoids Other than our own bodies is the cannabis plant. That means anyone growing this plant would be in violation of this patent whether medical or otherwise and could be held responsible.

 

Our country seems to be going backwards rather than forwards. This week congress told us that U.S. citizens can be held without trial and now they are giving a private company a patent on a plant which has been cultivated for thousands of years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There must be quite the back story to this.

 

From what I can find KannaLife Sciences does not appear to be a real pharma company anymore than the dispensary operation in Oakland, CA.

 

The guy that heads up the company is a film maker and the number two guy has the title of "Chief Visionary". They have a heavy duty "advisory board", but that seems to be it. Something just does not sound right here.

 

 

KannaLife Sciences Inc.

KannaLife Sciences, Inc. is a socially responsible, developmental stage phyto-medical/bio-pharmaceutical company that specializes in the research, development, and packaging of pharmacological products derived from botanical sources, including the cannabis taxa. KannaLife’s plan for generating revenue and growth is intended to come from (i.) KannaLife’s proprietary branding POS and hermetic packaging systems for the medical marijuana industry; (ii.) KannaLife’s branded anti-oxidant and recovery skin care ointments and creams; and (iii.) the development, marketing and sale of KannaLife biopharmaceutical and phyto-pharmaceutical products derived from cannabis for the treatment of patients suffering with neuro-degenerative, neuro-toxic and oxidative stress related diseases and disorders.

 

The Company’s focus on product development was born from the burgeoning market in the United States in the use of traditional healthcare models of treatment, utilizing medicinal marijuana and other APIs found in the genus of the cannabis taxa.

 

KannaLife intends to profit from the acquisition, development, marketing and sale of phyto-medical drugs and products derived from cannabinol (“CBN”) and cannabidiol (“CBD”) compounds as art and parcel to the Company’s drug development plan. The disease indications to which the Company intends to target for the development of its products are centered on patients suffering from diseases with neuro-degenerative and/or neuro-toxic profiles.

 

In addition the Company has developed a unique “blue ocean” approach to participating in the fast growing multi-billion dollar medical marijuana industry in establishing a “Gold Standard” in QA for delivering a consistent and reliable product to the consumer for dispensing medicinal marijuana in hermetically sealed packaging.

http://www.kannalife.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This article is a little confusing. First, you can not patent a future idea. So at this point, they have nothing to patent. There are already patents on drugs made from cannabis, one held by the U.S. government for treating a number of diseases.

 

Second, marijuana is a schedule one drug and is not allowed to be used in research for therapeutic uses. So, if the feds are violating the law by allowing one company to research therapeutic uses for cannabis, this is a great step forward and a positive.

 

Edit: I get it, this article claims the feds are selling their patent. No big deal, it does not give them exclusive rights over cannabis. It only gives them the right to the drug they developed and patented. Hundreds of drugs could be developed and patented in addition to this existing patent, which is narrow. Patents are no big deal, it is the 500 million to 2.4 billion dollars to get a drug approved by the FDA that is a big deal.

 

They will have to get a new patent for each of their new discovers from their new research. Plus a drug patent allows anybody to mimic the research, so other companies can start where the first one left off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This article is a little confusing. First, you can not patent a future idea. So at this point, they have nothing to patent. There are already patents on drugs made from cannabis, one held by the U.S. government for treating a number of diseases.

 

Second, marijuana is a schedule one drug and is not allowed to be used in research for therapeutic uses. So, if the feds are violating the law by allowing one company to research therapeutic uses for cannabis, this is a great step forward and a positive.

 

Edit: I get it, this article claims the feds are selling their patent. No big deal, it does not give them exclusive rights over cannabis. It only gives them the right to the drug they developed and patented. Hundreds of drugs could be developed and patented in addition to this existing patent, which is narrow. Patents are no big deal, it is the 500 million to 2.4 billion dollars to get a drug approved by the FDA that is a big deal.

 

They will have to get a new patent for each of their new discovers from their new research. Plus a drug patent allows anybody to mimic the research, so other companies can start where the first one left off.

 

 

No, It is a big deal because the Federal government holds a patent on "cannibinoids" not just a specific drug. I don't understand how they are allowed to patent cannibinoids in the first place but they did and now they are selling it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, It is a big deal because the Federal government holds a patent on "cannibinoids" not just a specific drug. I don't understand how they are allowed to patent cannibinoids in the first place but they did and now they are selling it.

Not true. You can not patent cannibinoids. They are patenting a few particular cannibinoid structures to be used in a number of particular ways. Here is the link to the patent.

 

My link

 

Just read the claims on page 28, that is the meat of the patent and what will be argued in court.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 3 researchers/chemists/MDs/Nobel Winners who patented cannabis Otober 2003, were employed by the NIH (National Institutes of Health), that's how and why the federal gov. owns the patent. Upon the filing the US government refused to waive its ownerwship of its employees' intellectual property.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you ever try to defend yourself against patent infringement? Have you seen some of the real life abuses of intellectual property law? That is what I am worried about.

Very familiar. Did you read the claims? This is only using a few compounds to treat a number of diseases with a specific dose. Very narrow for a drug patent. By the way if you know anyone who needs an intellectual property/patent attorney I know a very good one;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great, so you don't see that this might be abused? Or that a trend of these might be damaging to the medical marijuana movement?

Not really. Has the patents for marinol and dronabinol been a problem. Both similar patents on cannibinoids. Patents are necessary if we want someone to invest a billion or two to get a drug to the market. This will not effect us, at least not in the short term. Advances in science could effect us eventually.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a drug patent, not a plant patent. Really not a big deal, unless you plan on marketing one of the three or four cannibinoids to treat oxidation diseases using the dose they specify. What concerns do people have?

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong but isnt this the patent:

U.S. Patent # 6630507

 

On October 7, 2003, a U.S. patent #6630507 entitled "Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants" was awarded to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, based on research done at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). This patent claims that cannabinoids are "useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia."[38][39]

 

 

 

My plain reading of this seems to say that the patent is for "Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants"

It doesn't show any speficic drugs but exclusive authority to develop any cannabinoid based medicine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please correct me if I'm wrong but isnt this the patent:

U.S. Patent # 6630507

 

On October 7, 2003, a U.S. patent #6630507 entitled "Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants" was awarded to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, based on research done at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). This patent claims that cannabinoids are "useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia."[38][39]

 

 

 

My plain reading of this seems to say that the patent is for "Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants"

It doesn't show any speficic drugs but exclusive authority to develop any cannabinoid based medicine.

You have to read the claims to know what is actually being patented. But your plain reading is correct, mostly. The cannabinoids are the specific drugs and they list the few they are using. Similar to marinol. Marinol is patented and is a cannabinoid. Some day we may see dozens, maybe even hundreds of patents on cannabinoid uses. It is different than herbal cannabis, they are isolating certain cannabinoids to be used in a certain amount and making it into a drug, like marinol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have to read the claims to know what is actually being patented. But your plain reading is correct, mostly. The cannabinoids are the specific drugs and they list the few they are using. Similar to marinol. Marinol is patented and is a cannabinoid. Some day we may see dozens, maybe even hundreds of patents on cannabinoid uses. It is different than herbal cannabis, they are isolating certain cannabinoids to be used in a certain amount and making it into a drug, like marinol.

 

I don't believe it is like Marinol because Marinol is a "synthetic" cannabinoid. "Natural" cannabinoids come from the c cannabis plant. Which is what Kanna Life Sciences is using the "natural plant" as we do. They are trying to isolate certain cannabinoids just as we are. Ever heard of project CBD. Now they have the exclusive patent to do so courtesy of the Feds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only issue I see is if a dispensary or caregiver makes claims to be treating the same condition, let's say with Simpson oil. In that case, certainly a claim could be made by the company that the drug being used to treat the condition is violating their patent. Then what happens? It is a black or golden goo, does it contain the patented cannabinoids? Can the dispensary or caregiver even afford to defend the claim, or will they be driven out of business by the mere assertion that they are violating a patent?

 

Then think forward to when there are dozens of patented cannabis drugs; is Rick Simpson oil really safe from claims of patent infringement?

Rick Simpson oil would be safe from claims of patent infringement because its use predates these new inventions. Someone could find a new use for Simpson oil, then they could monopolize that specific use. The patent at hand is novel because the cannabinoids do not activate the NMDA receptor(no high), so they could not go after anyone using herbal cannabis. Herbal cannabis activates the NMDA receptor. Since herbal cannabis has been used for medicine for thousands of years it would be hard to find a novel use to patent. Marinol is patentable because they are using a synthetic. So to even get a patent they will have to find a new use or a synthetic, or alter the cannabinoid or ect..... They could patent ratios of cannabinoids if they can prove no one else has used those ratios.

 

But you are correct, an individual could not afford patent litigation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know, I see what is happening here. You are thinking in a legal way and I am thinking in a dirty trick way. Perhaps patents are not the obvious choice to go after dispensaries and caregivers right now, but as other avenues disappear, do you not believe that litigation and threat of litigation would be used to threaten competitors?

Hmmm. Well, I guess it could happen. You can never underestimate those who have endless pockets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

invest@kannalife.com is their email for investing.

 

Maybe they are onto something. We all buy up their stock. We all get rich. We then have $$$ to pay for political ads to get rid of Schuette and Snyder.

 

We then pay $$ to make sure future decisions go our way. That is how the alcohol and pill companies are playing, and so should we !!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...