Medibio Limited, an Australian listed company focused on the validation and commercialisation of its exciting new circadian heart rate variability technology acquired via the acquisition of Invatec Health, announced that it has lodged with the US Patent office a provisional patent application extending the use of its Circadian Heart Rate (“CHR”) technology for the diagnosis of depression and other mental health disorders.

The new patent application covers discoveries made over the past 18 months and will, if granted, complement and extend the existing patent suite covering mental health diagnosis held by Medibio .

The provisional application titled “Method and System for assessing Mental State”, was filed in the US under provisional application serial no. 62/175,796. The company intends to eventually seek patent protection in major jurisdictions including, but not limited to, Australia, the USA, the UK, EU, Japan, China, and Russia.

The lodgment of this new patent an important step in Medibio’s IP strategy of protecting its dominant and exclusive position in the use of Circadian Heart Rate (CHR) technology in the area of mental health diagnosis. Medibio’s existing patent, which covers the use of CHR for mental health medical diagnosis, will expire in 2018, and the new filing, based on algorithm development for medical diagnostics that will need regulatory approval will, if granted, provide an additional 20 years of protection. The new patent application also covers the use of CHR technology for determining the effectiveness of treatment in addition to the initial diagnosis.

This patent application differs from the application for a stress diagnostic filed by the company in June 2015, as it is focused on medical applications to be performed and/or monitored by a clinician as a diagnostic and monitoring tool rather than the simpler stress test, which evaluates individuals’ stress.

In commenting on the provisional application Kris Knauer the CEO of Medibio said: “The application will, if granted, provide an additional 20 years of exclusivity for the diagnosis of mental health disorders using CHR technology. Not only will it assure our monopoly rights in the US, the largest medical diagnostic market in the world, it has been drafted to maximize the potential for granting in Europe and other major jurisdictions, where there are currently no granted patents covering the use of CHR for mental health diagnostics.”