Hopman v Commissioner of Patents

Hopman v Commissioner of Patents concerned an application for a patent for a method of treating a disease by administering a specific chemical compound. The applicant, Hopman, sought to patent this method. The Commissioner of Patents opposed the grant of the patent.

The central legal issue before Fullagar J was whether the claimed invention, a method of treating a disease, was a manner of manufacture within the meaning of section 6 of the Statute of Monopolies. This required the court to consider the scope of patentable subject matter, particularly in relation to medical treatments.

Fullagar J reasoned that a method of treatment of the human body by the administration of a chemical compound, while beneficial, did not constitute a "manner of manufacture" in the sense contemplated by the Statute of Monopolies. His Honour distinguished between the discovery of a new substance and its application as a therapeutic agent, finding that the latter, in itself, did not involve a process of manufacture. The court applied established principles regarding patentability, focusing on the requirement for an invention to be a product of or process of manufacture.

The application for the patent was dismissed.