Crucial Brazil decision due on amending national patent law

The Brazilian Supreme Court of Justice is expected to deliver a potentially ground-breaking verdict on the constitutionality of a provision in the country’s intellectual property (IP) law allowing patent term extensions this week, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

If this provision is found unconstitutional and removed, the humanitarian organization argues that it will serve as a progressive step by the judicial system in Brazil towards safeguarding access to affordable medicines for all, preventing abusive patenting practices that keep the prices of lifesaving medicines artificially high for long periods of time.

More than 70% of patents last longer than 20 years