COSTA RICA
COSTA RICA
THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH IS TRYING TO ELIMINATE MEDICAL FORGERY FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE MEDICINE TRADE BETWEEN COUNTRIES SUCH AS NICARAGUA AND COLOMBIA, ACCORDING TO DATA FROM THE COSTA RICAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN TRADE.
such products and containers which are in immediate contact with them have not undergone any modification, alteration or damage and to avoid harmful interference to the owner or person entitled.”
Similarly, Article 16, subsection 2 of the Law on Patents, Drawings,
Industrial Designs and Utility Models, states that: “Whenever the following exceptions do not unreasonably conflict with normal exploitation of the patent and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the owner or his licensee, the rights conferred by the patent shall not extend to: […] d) Acts of sale, offering for sale, use, enjoyment, importing, or any mode of commercializing a product covered by the patent or obtained by the patented process, once it has been put on the market in any country, with the consent of the owner or license.”
Notwithstanding the above, Article 48 of the Regulation on Registration, Control, Import and Drug Advertising states: “Te Ministry of Health will allow parallel importation of patented pharmaceutical products in order to improve accessibility. Te pharmaceutical product imported under this scheme must be the same in terms of origin, quali-quantitative formula, manufacturing laboratory, presentation, packaging and labeling of primary pharmaceutical product already registered with the Ministry.”
the
As a consequence, this form of importation of pharmaceuticals is achievable only if the product has a valid patent in Costa Rica, and has an up to date marketing authorisation. Currently, only two pharmaceutical products hold a valid patent in Costa Rica.
Te TRIPS Agreement also states that members shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the agreement within their own legal system and practice, and Costa Rica allows the parallel importation of drugs with a valid patent in the country only
58 World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2013
María del Pilar López handles all aspects of IP practice, assisting companies with strategic portfolio development and management, including the registration of rights, administrative appeals and oppositions, enforcement actions and judicial litigation.
Esteban Monge provides counsel in a variety of areas of IP law, including client counselling and enforcement, with an emphasis on trademarks, patents, trade secrets, copyrights, unfair competition and trademark counterfeiting disputes.
in an effort to control public health and guarantee sanitary control. Currently, the Ministry of Health is trying to minimise and eliminate medical forgery from the illegitimate medicine trade between countries such as Nicaragua and Colombia, according to data from the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Trade.
Despite the current criteria, as more patents are registered and the clamour for access to certain pharmaceuticals grows, the national authorities will have to reconsider the current approach to the subject and establish rules to allow parallel importation of medicines on a more frequent basis, always abiding by strict quality control measures.
María del Pilar López is a senior attorney and director of the IP department at Zürcher Lawyers. She can be contacted at:
plopez@zurcherip.com
Esteban Monge is an attorney at the IP practice of Zürcher Lawyers. He can be contacted at:
emonge@zurcherip.com
www.worldipreview.com
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