Marseille 2007
Marseille 2007
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Abstract #217  -  Access to generic medicines : The new challenges of rising intellectual property protections
Session:
  47.7: Ethics and Law (Parallel) on Wednesday @ 08.30-10.30 in Auditorium/Overflow Chaired by Susan Newcomer, Anjali Nayyar
Authors:
  Presenting Author:   Mrs Gaelle Krikorian - CRESP, Centre de recherche sur la sant, le social et le politique , France
 
  Additional Authors:   
Aim:
In developing countries, access to HIV/AIDS medications is and will continue to be dependent on their ability to use generic drugs. According to experts, the increasing intellectual property (IP) protections introduced with US Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) constitute the newest barriers to the use of generic medicines. This study presents an analysis of the IP provisions included in these agreements and their evolution over time. It concludes that the ratification of these US-driven agreements charts the challenges access policies will face in the near future.
 
Method / Issue:
Countries signing such agreements are lead to implement more stringent standards than required by the World Trade Organizations (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and to relinquish some of its major flexibilities. The new IP protections include expansion of patentability criteria, extension of term of patent protection, creation of exclusive rights on marketing approval data, limitation of compulsory licensing use and parallel import, and creation of linkage between patent status and drug marketing approval. These provisions constitute the newest trends in intellectual property protection, already imposed in about a dozen of developing countries and likely to become the new global standard in the years to come. This study is based on text analysis of the IP chapters of fourteen US FTAs, including agreements signed since 1992 and agreements still in negotiation. It compares the different types of provisions over time in order to assess the evolution of IP protection levels. For each type of provision present in a given FTA, a unit of protection is assigned in that category. This method allows to estimate the increase in protection for each type of provision both relative to the TRIPs standard and from one agreement to the next.
 
Results / Comments:
This analysis reveals globally a clear increase in IP rights protection, as the agreements get more stringent and specific provisions get more intricate and complex. The comparative study of the different texts sheds light on the process of the setting of these new standards, which takes place outside of the multilateral arenas. It provides a snapshot of the challenges that will soon be brought to bear on the policies on access to medicine in developing countries.
 
Discussion:
What is happening in the context of the negotiation of bilateral and regional agreements reflects the USs strategy to methodically raise international IP standards. Although this initiative is visibly lead by the US, other developed countries share similar visions and objectives. Developing countries are only just starting to face the consequences of the implementation of the TRIPs agreement and, despite the Doha declaration, still have no guarantee that they will be able to protect health and access to medicines. Therefore, it is critical to scrutinize and understand the dynamics and potential impacts of emerging trends. Building on this knowledge, we can conceive the strategies that can be implemented at the country level and link them with the debates that need to take place in multilateral forums such as the World Health Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization.
 
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