[Patent protection in modern medical technology]

Inventions related to medical treatments and devices are due to specific regulations in the German, European and US patent Law much more difficult to obtain than inventions in the field of ordinary mechanics. In particular, inventions related to treatments of the human or animal body are excluded from patentability. In order to obtain at least some patent protection for such inventions the wording of the claims as well as the wording of the specification and preferred embodiments is very important. Patent protection is in most cases the only remedy to return the investment spent for the research. To maximize the possibility of patent protection in many countries, the timing of publication of the research result and filing of the patent application must be coordinated.