In this decision on interim relief for alleged patent infringement, the Court of Appeal construed the scope of a pharmaceutical patent claim in "Swiss" format, which is typically phrased as a process claim for the use of a compound in the production of a medicine for use in a particular therapeutic indication (new medical use claim)

The Court of the Commissioner of Patents in this decision focused on two main issues: (1) the protection of new medical uses of known products under South African patent law and (2) the requirements for prior art to destroy novelty by anticipation.

In this decision from 1983, the New Zealand Court of Appeal considered methods of treatment of humans to not constitute patentable inventions.

The Court ruled that New Zealand is bound by the TRIPS Agreement that obliges it to provide patent protection for all inventions, without discrimination. In the view of the Court, claims on the use of a known compound for the manufacture of pharmaceutical compositions in which the compound exhibits previously unknown therapeutic activity are inventions.