The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) has announced its support to the passage into law of the Cheaper Medicines Bill in the 14th Congress.
The bill seeks to amend provisions in Republic Act 8293, or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, pertaining to non-patentable inventions (Section 22), limitation of patent rights (Section 72), use of invention by government (Section 74) and limitations on rights conferred to trademark owners in cases of importation of medicines (Section 147).
This is following the call of President Arroyo urging Congress to enact the bill in her State of the Nation Address and various cause-oriented groups rallying behind it.
“By clarifying particular patent provisions in the IP Code, the bill balances the health interest of Filipinos on one hand and the rights of patent owners on the other,” lawyer Adrian Cristobal Jr., director general of IP Philippines, said.
“These proposed amendments modernize our 60-year-old patent system to make the law responsive to the health care needs of our people in the 21st century,” he added.
Since 2005, IP Philippines has been pushing intellectual property reforms detailed in the National Intellectual Property Policy Strategy.
The office recently concluded a four-day validation workshop for the preliminary report it conducted on the current IP situation in the country.
Close to 150 participants attended the workshop, representing various sectors in the fields of law, economics and sciences.
“One amendment to the proposed law provides access to affordable medicines abroad priced lower than their counterparts in the Philippines. This is consistent with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) administered by the World Trade Organization, which the country acceded to. The bill, however, also balances the rights of patent owners since these are upheld in the amended provisions,” Cristobal stressed.
Other countries that have acceded to the TRIPS agreement include the United States, the European Union, Japan and other developed nations.
IP Philippines, through its Bureau of Patents, provides the registration and grant of patent for inventions. A patent is a legal right granted by the government to a patent owner to exclude others from using the patented item for a specified period of time in exchange for patentable information and disclosure.
From 2003 to 2006, IP Philippines received a total of almost 11,000 patent applications.
It also granted close to 3,000 applications from 2003 to 2007.
::Source::
::Daily Tribune::
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