Brazilian court suspends Gilead patent after presidential candidate request
A Brazilian federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction against a patent for US-based Gilead’s Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) drug, used to treat hepatitis C, following a complaint by a presidential candidate.
Rolando Valcir Spanholo at the Special Court for Public Health of the 21st Federal Court of Brasilia announced the decision on Sunday, September 23.
Earlier in September, Brazilian presidential candidate Marina Silva and her running mate Eduardo Jorge filed a lawsuit asking that the patent be overturned for a lack of novelty, in a move that demonstrates the links between politics and IP.
Sovaldi is delivered free of charge by Brazil’s health system.
“Marina and Eduardo Jorge argued in their plea that the patent lacks inventiveness and does not take into account the public interest in the public health and the technology development of Brazil, among other related arguments,” Gabriel Di Blasi, managing partner at Brazil-based Di Blasi, Parente & Associados, told LSIPR.
According to Luiz Leonardos, partner at Luiz Leonardos & Advogados in Brazil, Sovaldi incurs high costs to the health system.
“With the granting of the patent, the costs could increase, so the federal judge suspended the granting and ordered the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office ( INPI) to re-examine the case, bearing in mind its social and public interest aspects.”
Di Blasi added that according to the judge, in granting the patent, the INPI “failed on its constitutional mission to previously watch for national sovereignty and public interest”.
As a result, the court suspended the INPI’s decision to grant the patent.
However, according to Di Blasi, there are “several inconsistent legal understandings” in this decision that he believes will be disputed by Gilead.
Di Blasi added that this decision has been criticised by the wider IP community including the Brazilian Industrial Property Association.
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