The fact that rational drug design firms are now under patent scrutiny is a positive development because the investigations will result in described advantages that will certainly capture investors interests and propel these types of companies into the mainstream in the next wave of growth that is now emerging. Computational technologies and chemical libraries are being combined in silico to speed drug design in a rational way. Such companies use structural models and computational methods to design or refine therapeutics. The approach emphasizes production of compounds that are more effective and with better side-effects profiles. William Carlson, president and chief science officer of Thrasos, a biotechnology company, says Companies that are able to do computationally guided rational drug design successfully will have a distinct competitive advantage. Computationally guided rational drug design concentrates on increasing the activity spectrum of current drugs or removing side effects to provide more effective compounds and to allow lower dosages. In under two years and for an investment of $2.6 million, Thrasos has produced nine active candidates for acute renal failure and myocardial injury, and three have promise for investigational new drug (IND) applications. Such rational drug design has been subject to legal changes in Japan, Europe, and the U.S., whose patent and trademark offices have published a trilateral study on protein 3D structure-related claims. The study should give rational drug design companies more assurance when prosecuting patent applications and when evaluating the strengths of their current patent portfolios.