In an earlier post I explained the issues that the proposed EU Regulation on SEPs intends to address, and why neither the market nor the courts solve them. Here, I discuss three points of critique brought against the Proposal: that it would reduce innovation incentives; that a family-level essentiality assessment would be too imprecise; and…
The Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) Regulation Proposal also known as the IP Action Plan formally issued by the European Commission today suggests groundbreaking changes to the standard essential patent landscape as we know it. The SEPs Regulation Proposal indicates the European Commission’s desire to establish four major requirements for SEPs holders and implementers. These are…
After years of preparation, the European Union’s draft legislation for a sweeping reform of the existing legal regime on supplementary protection certificates (SPCs), which includes the establishment of a centralized SPC filing and examination procedure as well as the introduction of a unitary SPC, has finally been published today on April 27, 2023. This draft…
The Brazilian Patent Statute (Law #9,279/96) does not explicitly prohibit double patenting per se. However, as shown in the statistics set out below, the BRPTO regularly considers double patenting. This is based on the BRPTO’s interpretation of Article 6 of the Patent Statute (as set out below). In particular, the BRPTO interprets Article 6 as…
The European Commission’s recently leaked Proposal for a Regulation on standard-essential patents (SEPs), summarized here by Enrico Bonadio and Dyuti Pandya, establishes a framework for transparent SEP licensing. Some have criticized the proposal, claiming among other things that it is unnecessary, harmful to innovation, and difficult to implement. Much of this critique is unjustified. More…
EU institutions have recently paid attention to Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and how the SEPs framework could be improved to encourage innovation while also promoting competition and satisfy consumers’ interests. In its 2020 Intellectual Property Action Plan on IP, for example, the Commission stressed the need to set the right conditions for a transparent, predictable…
The Brazilian healthcare legislation establishes in the legal definitions of generic drugs (article 3, items XX and XXI, Statute #6,360 of 1976[1]) that their labels must have all and the same therapeutic indications of the reference-listed drug. The law only allow differentiation in characteristics like product’s size and shape, shelf life, package, and excipients[2]. The…
Historically, China promulgated its first patent law in the 1980s, the result of its reopening and affiliation to the WIPO, which led to the country’s joining important multilateral agreements, such as the Paris Union Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1984) and the TRIPS Agreement (2001). This patent law entered into force in 1985…
On June 3, 2022, the Japanese government announced its Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2022. The Intellectual Property Strategic Program sets out the government’s policies and future actions for promoting the creation, protection and exploitation of intellectual property in a focused and systematic manner. It is discussed and decided every year by the Intellectual Property Strategy…
On July 14, a Brazilian Congressman Mr. Alexis Fonteyne presented a Patent Bill proposing key amendments to the Patent Statute (Law No. 9,279 of 1996). The proposal represents an important development for the IP community, especially when it comes to patent term compensation, which may become statutory if the bill is approved (click here for an English…
