Porta Sophia Files Third-Party Preissuance Submission and Observation for ATAI Life Sciences Application 17/941,648 and PCT/US2022/043102

MADISON, WI USA (May 26, 2023) Porta Sophia filed a third party observation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) today for International Patent Application Number PCT/US2022/043102 entitled “Ibogaine Combination Treatment”, which is currently assigned to ATAI Life Sciences. The submission consisted of six prior art documents that are material to the patentability of all 22 claims of the application.

Concurrently, Porta Sophia filed a third-party preissuance submission with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on May 4, 2023 for U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 17/941,648 assigned to ATAI Life Sciences with a similar set of 29 claims.

Porta Sophia, a non-profit psychedelic prior art library, leverages the experience of legal and interdisciplinary academic scholars to promote an ethical psychedelic patenting landscape that preserves the integrity of the public domain. The organization curates and makes relevant historical documentation readily available for anyone wanting to explore the scope of psychedelic technologies, including patent examiners.

Patent application: ibogaine co-administration with a metabolism inhibitor for safer therapies

The ’648 and PCT applications were filed on September 9, 2022 and claims priority to a provisional application filed on September 10, 2021. These applications describe the administration of ibogaine along with a drug that prevents ibogaine metabolism, such as CYP2D6 inhibitors or inactivators, to minimize the generation of noribogaine and increase systemic circulation of ibogaine. In addition to drug combinations, dose and dose regimen are also claimed.

Prior art in the third-party preissuance submission included publications from peer reviewed journals, scientific book chapters, and international patent documents. This prior art anticipates claims in the ’648 and ‘102 applications. The full third-party submission documentation is available here and the third party observation documentation is available here.

Third-party submissions of prior art

United States patent law allows third parties to submit prior art and concise descriptions of their relevance to the USPTO. Documents submitted may be considered in the examination of that patent application. In addition, these submissions have a broad impact because applicants have a duty to disclose the prior art submitted against a single patent application for other relevant patent applications filed by the applicant.

WIPO Patent Cooperation Treaty guidelines allow third parties to submit prior art and concise descriptions of their relevance to the WIPO. This ensures that the documents submitted will be considered in the examination of that patent application. In addition, these submissions have a broad impact because applicants have a duty to disclose the prior art submitted against a single patent application for other relevant patent applications filed by the applicant. 

Porta Sophia tracks and analyzes psychedelic patent applications globally. If an application improperly claims innovation of something known in the public domain and meets the standards of Porta Sophia's third party intervention evaluation criteria, the team assembles evidence against these invalid claims and contests them directly to the relevant patent office through third-party interventions.