Porta Sophia Files Third-Party Preissuance Submission and Observation for Panagiotakopoulos et al Application 17/948,180 and PCT/US2022/044039

MADISON, WI USA (April 28, 2023) Porta Sophia filed a third party observation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) today for International Patent Application Number PCT/US2022/0440392 entitled “Psilocybin Derived Compositions and Methods Using Same”, which is currently assigned to Natalia Panagiotakopoulos, Bil Panagiotakopoulos, Najla Guthrie, and Andrew Charrette. The submission consisted of ten prior art documents that are material to the patentability of 20 claims of the application. The full third party observation documentation is available here.

Concurrently, Porta Sophia filed a third-party preissuance submission with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on April 26, 2023 for U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No. 17/948,180 assigned to Natalia Panagiotakopoulos, Bil Panagiotakopoulos, Najla Guthrie, and Andrew Charrette with a similar set of 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: composition of psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin and norpsilocin

The ’180 application was filed on September 19, 2022 and claims priority to a provisional application filed on September 17, 2021. It describes an alkaloid composition consisting of psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, and norpsilocin. The application also claims drug combination with cannabidiol, prebiotics and medicinal mushrooms as well as the use of these combinations in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome.

Prior art in the third-party preissuance submission included publications from peer reviewed journals, a web page, and domestic U.S. and international patent documents. This prior art anticipates claims in the ’180 application. Notable prior art includes a 2020 Journal of Healthcare case report describing the complete resolution of a patient’s rheumatoid arthritis symptoms after consuming four doses of 2 grams of psilocybin mushrooms over a two-week period. The full third-party submission 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.