Can medical procedures be patented?

In New Zealand most medical procedures cannot be patented.  The new Patents Act 2013 specifically excludes methods of treatment of human beings by surgery or therapy, and methods of diagnosis practiced on human beings, from being patented.

The definition of therapy includes both curative and preventative treatments of diseases and medical conditions.  Generally this is any medical procedure that would normally be carried out by or under the supervision of a medical professional, even if the actual treatment takes place outside the body (for example in an extracorporeal blood dialysis or filtration method).  Exceptions to this rule include non-therapeutic medical procedures or treatments.  For example, purely cosmetic treatments are patentable (such as treatments of the hair or skin, provided there are no therapeutic benefits).  Medical procedures relating to methods of contraception are generally considered to be patentable, as preventing pregnancy is not considered to be therapeutic.

The definition of surgery includes the treatment of the body by operation or manipulation. It is therefore not limited to cutting the body, but also includes the setting of broken bones or dislocated joints (closed surgery), and dental surgery.  In general, any operation on the body which requires the skill or knowledge of a surgeon or other medical professional is regarded as being surgery, whether or not it is therapeutic.  Therefore methods of surgery for cosmetic purposes, or other non-therapeutic purposes such as sterilisation, are not patentable.

Diagnostic medical procedures cannot be patented if they are practised on a living human body.  However, in vitro diagnostic procedures, performed on blood or other samples that have been removed from the body, are patentable.

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