Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines

IP Philippines backs Senate move to fast track passage of Cheaper Medicines Bill

25 September 2007, Makati City – The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) supports the Senate’s move to fast track hearings for the passage into law a bill amending the Intellectual Property Code. The amendments will help make medicines accessible and affordable to the Filipinos.

Senate Bill 101, introduced by Senator Manuel Roxas II, seeks to amend certain provisions in Republic Act No. 8293, or the IP Code, 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 on trademark owners in cases of importation of medicines (section 147). The proposed law is more popularly known as the Cheaper Medicines Bill.

“We agree with the decision of the joint committees on trade and commerce, and the health and demography that the IP Code amendments must follow a course separate from other bills that propose other measures like price control,” Atty. Adrian S. Cristobal Jr., Director General of IP Philippines, said. “Lumping them together will just delay important legislation to reform the patent system to make it more responsive to the health needs of the Filipinos,” Cristobal added.

The upper house is expected to release the report next week for plenary deliberation; it has pledged to pass the bill before it adjourns on October 13. The Senate will conduct further hearings to remedy unfair medicine practices in the country.

During a committee hearing last week in the House of Representatives, Undersecretary Alexander Padilla of the Department of Health (DoH) said that IP amendments should proceed independently of other issues such as price regulations, and supply and demand.

Malou Buensuceso, president of the Philippine Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry (PCPI), expressed a similar view saying that amendments to the IP Code should be discussed independently as it is an enabling law that will increase access to cheaper medicines. Inclusion of other health-related issues in the proposed bills will delay the process, she added.

“The economic rights of patent owners will be protected in the amended law, which complements IP Philippines’ efforts in balancing their rights and the public’s health needs,” Cristobal said.

Amendment to the patent laws of the IP Code forms part of the legislative agenda of IP Philippines. IP Philippines through its Bureau of Patents (BoP) 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. The office also granted close to 3,000 applications from 2003 to 2007. An invention must embody a technical solution to a problem, with the solution offered fulfilling the following criteria: it must be new, involves an inventive step, and possesses industrial applicability. A patented invention is protected for 20 years from the filing date of application, and this cannot be renewed.

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