Brazil’s pharma patent reforms come into action
Brazil’s reforms to streamline analysis of pharmaceutical patents came into force on Monday.
The measures, which were revealed by President Michel Temer in April, aim at improving the IP system in Brazil.
The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) signed an agreement in April clarifying the role of each institution in granting patents for pharmaceutical products and processes.
According to the INPI, the agreement will streamline the patent process, facilitate the arrival of new generics to the market and ensure legal certainty for investors.
Temer said in April: “This is another important moment of reforms, to speed up the provision of public services.”
He added: “If a patent takes ten years to be granted, it loses its purpose. That is why we are moving ahead on this reform agenda. The actions of the government converge to a single point: the wellbeing of Brazilians.”
Under the new agreement ANVISA will only analyse a patent’s impact on public health, while the INPI will analyse patentability criteria—novelty, inventive activity and industrial application.
According to the INPI, there are around 23,000 pending applications in the pharmaceutical area, while the total backlog of patents was 243,820 last year.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
