Porta Sophia is playing an invaluable role in protecting public domain and ethical advancement in psychedelic research and innovation, especially as the popularity of psychedelic therapies increases, increasing the potential for overly broad patents that could prevent access to potentially lifesaving treatments.
Porta Sophia strives to ensure that psychedelic therapies will eventually be widely accessible by preventing patent holders from sequestering publicly known technologies and practices with overly broad patents. They accomplish this goal through their extensive prior art library and expert prior art services.
The Porta Sophia Prior Art Library is an extensively curated repository of over 2,000 pieces of prior art related to over 50 psychedelic compounds. This library draws from patents, journal articles, books, websites, archives and non-traditional sources; new prior art is regularly added weekly.
Dr. Amanda Fielding, Executive Director of Porta Sophia states, “Our team of scientific and legal experts carefully curate prior art to highlight current themes in the psychedelic patent landscape, thus enabling us to identify and protect knowledge that should remain open source.” This allows them to protect knowledge that should remain part of public domain.
Porta Sophia provides expert prior art services to researchers and innovators working within the psychedelic field, such as third-party interventions, patentability analyses and landscape assessments – services which ensure innovations are truly novel and non-obvious.
Porta Sophia takes an approach rooted in respect for the historical and cultural importance of psychedelic knowledge, including Indigenous practices and wisdom. By creating a more open patent environment, they hope to foster ethical yet cutting-edge psychedelic research.
Dr. Fielding asserts, “We support patents which are novel and non-obvious in order to prevent the privatization of knowledge that belongs in the public domain.”
Porta Sophia has already made an outstanding difference through its efforts. This organization tracks and analyzes U.S. and international patent applications on a weekly basis, and when an application improperly claims something already known in the public domain, Porta Sophia gathers relevant prior art directly for submission and observation to patent offices.
Porta Sophia relies on financial donations as a non-profit entity to meet its mission and continue operations. Contributing to Porta Sophia will enable individuals and organizations to contribute towards creating a future where psychedelic therapies are accessible while honoring its rich history and cultural legacy.
Porta Sophia acts as a protector of public domain in psychedelic research, ensuring innovation is balanced with ethical considerations and traditional knowledge preservation. As more researchers explore therapeutic potential of psychedelics, their work becomes even more essential in safeguarding public interest and providing equitable access to these promising treatments.
Check them out here: https://www.portasophia.org