Claim Families

Basic Composition and Therapeutic-Use Structures

The claims framework begins with basic composition and therapeutic-use structures. Common claim families include:

• a claim to a substance or composition itself;
• a first medical use claim;
• a second medical use claim;
• a treatment claim framed around disease, dosage, route, regimen, or combination use; and
• a method-of-treatment claim where that form is jurisdictionally permitted.

These patterns reflect the fact that the same underlying invention may be claimed through the product itself, its therapeutic use, its dosage strategy, its mode of administration, or a specific treatment act.

Jurisdiction-Sensitive Medical Use Formats

The source framework also reflects that some claim forms are jurisdiction-sensitive. Different claim expressions may be used for:

• first medical use;
• second medical use;
• Swiss-type use language;
• route-of-administration variations;
• dosage-specific use;
• reduced-side-effect use;
• subject-stratified use; and
• combination or sequential administration.

The public-safe lesson is that therapeutic inventions are often not expressed in only one claim form. The choice of claim structure affects novelty, support, and jurisdictional treatment.

Treatment Method Claims

The framework also includes treatment-method structures in which a subject is administered a therapeutically effective amount of a substance to achieve a stated outcome. These patterns can be adapted to emphasize route, dosage, regimen, formulation, or measurable treatment outcome. The source material treats these not just as wording variations, but as different ways to capture treatment-related innovation.

A major portion of the claims framework is devoted to antibodies and biologics. The source material includes claim patterns built around:

• antigen-binding fragments;
• heavy-chain and light-chain CDR sets;
• VH/VL sequences;
• sequence identity;
• isotype or chain selection;
• functional binding properties; and
• recombinant nucleic acids encoding the biologic structure.

This shows how biologic inventions may be expressed through structure, sequence, function, or combinations of those features.

Biomarker and Diagnostic Claim Families

Another major claim family involves biomarkers, diagnostics, and patient selection. The framework includes patterns directed to:

• determining whether a subject has a condition based on a biomarker;
• comparing a biomarker result to a baseline;
• selecting a patient for treatment based on a biomarker;
• administering treatment on the basis of a biomarker result;
• analyzing panels of biomarkers; and
• tying sample analysis to downstream therapeutic action.

The source materials also preserve the idea that a diagnostic structure can involve examination, comparison, recognition of deviation, and a resulting medical or clinical decision.

Monitoring and Analytical Claims

The claim framework extends beyond disease diagnosis into analytical and monitoring patterns. These include pharmacodynamic monitoring claims, sample analysis and characterization methods, modification-site characterization methods, and claims directed to the analytical evaluation of substances or biological activity. This broadens the framework from treatment and diagnosis into technical characterization and assay-based workflows.

Taken together, the claims framework shows that claim drafting is not just about wording. It is about choosing the right family of claim structures for the invention being protected. That choice affects:

• what must be disclosed;
• how support must be shown;
• what kinds of examples matter;
• whether jurisdiction-specific exclusions become relevant; and
• how the invention is positioned for review and prosecution.

The same underlying invention may be patentable in one jurisdiction through a method-of-treatment claim and in another only through a substance-for-use claim. The same compound may be protectable both as a composition and as a biologic-encoding nucleotide. The same therapeutic may support both a product claim and a diagnostic selection claim. Understanding which families apply — and how they interact with the specification — is foundational to effective patent strategy.