CannabIP: U.S. Patent No. 10,039,740 B2

U.S. Patent No. 10,039,740 B2 (‘740) issued on August 7, 2018, for “Therapeutic Combinations of Sesquiterpenes and Flavonoids.”  It was issued to inventor Masayoshi Yamaguchi of Shizuoka, Japan.  The applicant/assignee is Primus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona, a pharmaceutical company which focuses on nutrition-based drug research.

The ‘740 claims are directed to a composition of β-caryophyllene, a sesquiterpene found in C. sativa, and two flavonoids, baicalin and catechin, and a method of using this composition to treat inflammation.  The specification also describes several embodiments.

Figure 1 below illustrates the claimed invention as described in the ‘740 patent.

The specification also describes experimentation (i.e., enablement under 35 U.S.C. §112(a)) which involved testing in vitro on murine macrophage cells (RAW267.4) that produce inflammatory responses to TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor alpha) and IL-1 β (interleukin 1 beta), proteins which trigger inflammation.

The International Patent Classification are A01N (preservation of bodies of humans or anmials or plants or parts thereof; biocides, namely, plant growth regulators containing heterocyclic compounds and organic oxygen or sulfur compounds), and A61K (preparations for medical, dental purposes, namely medical preparations characterized by special physical form or containing organic active ingredients).

This is example of what types of patents available to cannabis industry inventions.  There are many companies focusing their research on medical treatments and uses for the cannabinoids, like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabigerol (CBG), among others, but fewer have investigated the terpenes and flavonoids found in the cannabis plant.  The ‘740 patent represents one of these new issued patents which have focused on the treatment methods for the terpenes found in cannabis.

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