1. Third Party Observations under article 115 of EPC

TKDL third party submission under Article 115 EPC brought to the notice of examination division the prior art references on the use of Panax pseudoginseng (ginseng) as a semen promoting agent from the book – Kaiyadevanighantau by Kaiyadeva (Ayurveda, Exhibit 1).

2. Relevant Extract of EPO Examination report

EPO Patent Examiner(s) took cognizance of TKDL references. Extract of examination report at Para 3 & 5 are reproduced below.

“Observation of third party:

With a letter of 13.7.2010 an observation of third party has been filed. The document annexed to this observation (Exhibit 1, pg 03-05, referring to a formulation containing Panax ginseng Wall. Syn.: P. s. Nees as a single ingredient used as a semen promoter) has been taken into account by the Searching Authority. However, this document has not been found to be relevant for novelty as it does not refer to a specific part of ginseng namely, a berry. The Applicant should be aware of the fact that this document would be used for attacking inventive step.

In general, ginseng extracts have already been employed in the art for treating erectile dysfunction (see any of D3 or D5 or Exhibit 1 file with the third party observation; i.e. the same properties would be expected in case of an extract prepared from the specific part of ginseng, namely berry).”

Full examination report can be referred at EP2152281.pdf

3. Outcomes of Third Party Observations & Examination Report.

As the outcome of TKDL third party and other documents cited in examination report, Applicant M/s Amorepacific Corporation, / Republic of Korea, decided to amend the claims on 04.10.2013. After amendment of claims on India’s TK on the basis of prior art in TKDL, decision to grant.