Brazil declines patent extensions for Aprovel and Geodon

2 March 2011

A Regional Court in Rio de Janeiro declined to extend the validity of two patents relating to Sanofi-Aventis (Euronext: SAN)/Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) antihypertensive Aprovel (irbesartan) and Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) atypical antipsychotic Geodon (ziprasidone).

The decision was taken on February 22 and represents another victory for the Insitituto Nacional da Propriedade Industriale (INPI) regarding the counting of the validity of patents. In the case of Geodon, the expiration date was March 2, 2007, but the manufacturer defended the extension until March 2, 2012. In the case of Aprovel, the original date was March 20, 2010, but the paten right holder wanted to extend it until August 15, 2012.

Jorge Avila, INPI’s president, says that agency supports the importance of patents for society, but the Institute also helps to limit abuses of these rights

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