[UPDATE: Spanish version of the statement added July 21.] Activists and progressive health forces in Brazil have succeeded in catalyzing a proposal to reform Brazilian patent law to take advantage of key TRIPS flexibilities in order to increase access to affordable medicines. In August 2013, Brazil will issue a major report and proposed legislative reforms that will: eliminate patent term extensions and data exclusivity, restrict patents on new forms and new uses and tighten the inventive step requirement (following the India example), adopt government use procedures, and clarify the role that ANVISA, its drug regulatory agency, plays in the patent examination system. We hope to gain sign-ons from hundreds of civil society/activist organizations.
To read and endorse the Civil Society Statement, please visit http://infojustice.org/civil-society-statement-brazil-july2013
