Canada welcomes Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Europe

Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) has welcomed the Canadian Government’s announcement over the successful conclusion of negotiations surrounding the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)

On Friday Canada signed the CETA trade agreement with the European Union. The agreement included life sciences intellectual property improvements such as Patent Term Restoration, which will offer research-based pharmaceutical companies the potential to recover up to two years of time lost on their patent as a result of lengthy regulatory and government approval processes. Canada is the only G7 nation that does not provide any form of patent term restoration.

In addition, the Right of Appeal will allow research-based pharmaceutical companies to more effectively appeal court decisions where a patent is ruled invalid, a process that has been available to challengers but not to patent-owners to date. Rx&D has maintained that regardless of the initial court decision, equal appeal rights for both parties are vital for a fair judicial system.