7.1.4 Further technical information as compared with the state of the art

In T 1031/00 claim 1 was directed to the first medical use of (-) amlodipine, namely the treatment of hypertension. However, the prior art document already showed the ability of (-) amlodipine to inhibit calcium ion influx into rat aorta tissue in vitro as indicative of its effectiveness in the treatment of hypertension. It also disclosed that amlodipine was then undergoing phase III clinical trials for the treatment of hypertension. The board found that the description provided no further evidence or data showing the actual antihypertensive effect of the (-) isomer of amlodipine in humans or animals than did the prior art. The board concluded that the subject-matter of the patent application was anticipated by the disclosure in that document; in other words, document (3) disclosed the same medical use as the application at issue.