2021 years 5 month 6 day, Brazil's Supreme Court has scrapped a minimum for successful drug patents 10 A guarantee of annual protection.

Court to 9 Vote for 2 The vote against the ruling said, Brazil "Industrial property law" The first 40 The only provision of the article is unconstitutional.

The court will decide whether the ruling has retrospective effect.

If the judge rules retroactively, The period of effective protection of patents for inventions related to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology will be shortened to the date of filing 20 years, Instead of the authorization date 10 years.

That means a much shorter period of protection for patents that have endured long waits at Brazil's Intellectual Property Office.

Generally speaking, The Supreme Court's decision invalidating a legal provision has retroactive effect. but, if 8 Name or 8 More than one judge agreed, The court may decide that retroactive effect does not apply in a particular case.

The reporting judge in the case, Diaz．Toffoli (Dias Toffoli) suggestion, Patents that have been granted should not be affected by the ruling, But there is 2 Specific exception: Patents in the pharmaceutical and medical fields, And based on control 40 A patent whose unconstitutional arguments are valid in court.

Judge Mark．Aurelio (Marco Aurelio) representation, There should be no exception to the court's retroactive rule, The effect of the award shall cover all patents granted.

At the same time, Judge Gilmar．Mendes (Gilmar Mendes) representation, Retrospective effect should be limited to COVID-19 related pharmaceutical and medical patents.

Judge Roberto．Barroso (Roberto Barroso) According to, He granted the patent exception in invalid proceedings, But it does not agree to patent exceptions in the pharmaceutical and medical fields, Because that would violate "Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights" .

Ricardo the lawyer．Nunay (Ricardo Nunes) representation: "Even if there are tentative ideas about whether the ruling should affect patents that have already been granted, The justices could still change their minds when the matter is discussed in court, So it's totally an open question. " (Compiled from www. managingip. com)

Reprinted from China Intellectual Property Network   translation: Rason group　proofread: Wang Dan

　　disclaimer: This network reprint or compile the original article from the Internet, Does not represent the views of this website or confirm the authenticity of its content. If the source is mislabeled or the copyright of the article is involved, Please contact this website, This network will be corrected in due course, delete, thank you.