The key differences between the two patent applications, were that 1998 patent application specified the counterion (Gleevec is a specific salt – imatinib mesylate) while the 1993 patent application did not claim any specific salts nor did it mention mesylate, and the 1998 patent application specified the solid form of Gleevec – the way the individual molecules are packed together into a solid when the drug itself is manufactured (this is separate from processes by which the drug itself is formulated into pills or capsules) – while the 1993 patent application did not.