Public Health Considerations Should Guide Patent Examination, Paper Argues

Patent offices should align their work in support of national health and medicines policies when carrying out the examination of patents, a new South Centre paper argues.

The intergovernmental South Centre published a policy brief [pdf] on guidelines for patentability and access to medicines, authored by Germán Velásquez, the Centre’s special adviser for health and development.

The relationship between patent examination and access to medicines is not fully understood, according to Velásquez. Patentability requirements are not defined by patent offices, the author said, but frequently by the courts, tribunals, legislation or treaty negotiators.

Patent offices should use the flexibility allowed by the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to define patentability requirements, he said.

The policy brief discusses the guidelines for the examination of pharmaceutical patents developed by the World Health Organization.

According to the author, “our major issues can be identified in the current use of the patent system to protect pharmaceutical innovation: reduction in innovation, high prices of medicines, lack of transparency in research and development costs, and proliferation of patents.”

The policy brief suggests a number of recommendations for countries, such as defining patentability requirements in a manner consistent with public objectives, integrating a mechanism to grant compulsory licences permitted by TRIPS into national legislation, and excluding naturally occurring substances from patentability.