Tuesday, May 19, 2015 T 1164/11 - Use the force

This Examination appeal concerns a medical apparatus for cutaneous administration of medicaments, i.e., through the skin. The main claim in the appeal reads:

 
"A medical apparatus for cutaneous administration of medicaments comprising:
- a supporting frame (100);
- an energy emitter (9) in engagement with the frame (100) and active on the molecules of at least one medicament to cause penetration of same into a skin region to be treated (10); (...) said energy emitter (9) being an electromagnetic wave generator (11) emitting a laser light of a wavelength comprised in the range of 600 to 650 nm."

The board has its doubts whether such a electromagnetic wave generator can really  be  active on the molecules of a medicament to cause penetration into a skin region. The board  evaluates if there is a plausible explanation of the claimed effect and, in the absence thereof, the available evidence.