“We are inviting local drug companies to use our search facilities and get the list of off-patent drugs,” said Director General Cristobal. “More companies manufacturing the same medicines will promote competition among the pharmaceutical industry and make health benefits accessible to the public, especially the poor.”

The Intellectual Property Code provides 20 years patent protection to inventions, including drugs, from the date of filing. Patents are non-renewable and become public domain once they expire. “The formulation of drugs with lapsed patents may be used by any pharmaceutical company in coming up with generic or their own brand of medicine,” explained Cristobal.

Cristobal said the IPO is encouraging the production of off-patent medicines because the essence of intellectual property rights (IPR) is the diffusion of knowledge and information for national development and progress. IPR must therefore be used to for the common good.

“We protect the exclusive rights of drugs patent holders to ensure that they benefit from their intellectual property, but for a limited time. After that period the knowledge must be shared to benefit society,” stressed Cristobal.