Patent reform in Brazil - lessons for the global South

Photo: iStockphotos.com / skibac

Brazil is undertaking a legislative review that will probably lead major patent law reforms. The full report is yet to be launched but a  brief technical overview is available on infojustice. Some of the proposals include:

1. Limiting patent terms to 20 years with no extensions
2. Disallowing patents on new uses or new forms of existing medicines
3. Heightening the inventive step requirement
4. Adopting opposition procedures

The technical review explains how these, and other proposed reforms, are TRIPS compliant. 

This Afro-Leo believes that there are important lessons about  how to craft a properly nuanced or calibrated patent system within the confines of the existing international framework to be learnt from the Brazilian reform process for other countries in the global South.