Intellectual Property Flashcards
Three Main Points of Control for Pharmaceutical Market Access:
- Patent Legislation
- Regulatory System
- Pricing and Reimbursement
An intellectual property control
Patent Legislation
Market exclusivity via data protection
Regulatory System
It is via Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
Pricing and reimbursement
The main forms of intellectual property: (4)
- Copyright
- Trademarks
- Data rights
- Patents
Other form of intellectual properties: (1)
- Business secrets or first to market
The principal means of protecting ‘novel’ products and processes is by ___ – a concept that has existed since antiquity
Patents
A patent is an exclusive right: (4)
- Granted in respect of an invention
- That must be susceptible to industrial application
- That is new (novelty)
- That involves an inventive step
Patents are normally valid for ___ from the date of filing (full patent).
20 years
___ are payable at stages throughout the 20 years.
Renewal fees
Confers upon its holder, for a limited period, the right to exclude others from exploiting (making, using, selling, importing) the patented invention, except with the consent of the patent owner
‘Exclusivity’ (Exclusive Right)
Patents encourage innovation by ___ means; they represent a trade-off of disclosure in return for monopoly.
monetary
Patents have the effect of ___ but
at a cost to consumers – they might allow a higher price to be charged than if there were no patent in existence (welfare loss).
incentivising innovation
___ and ___ is involved in securing patents – they have to be secured in every country or territory depending on the local legislation.
Considerable time and expense
Key requirements for patentability: (4)
- Invention
- Novelty (Newness)
- Inventive step
- Capable of industrial application
In Europe, there are many definitions but the test is for the presence of a technical solution to a technical problem. For example, ___ provides this definition:
‘Any new and useful art, process, machine, manufacture, or composition or matter, or any new and useful improvement in any art, process, machine, manufacture, or composition or matter…’
Irish legislation (Patents Act 1964)
___ abound regarding patentability of business practices, software, traditional knowledge, algorithms, as well as various types of biotech and chemical inventions such as stem cells, diagnostic processes, 3D protein and crystalline structures, DNA sequences and animals.
Controversies
Applies when the invention is not already part of the ‘State of the art’.
Novelty
Is everything made available to the public, in the State or elsewhere, by means of a written or oral description, by use or by any other means, plus any prior Patent application.
‘State of the art’
An invention shall be considered as involving an ___ if it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art. It is decided on a case-by-case basis.
Inventive step
An invention shall be considered ___ if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture.
Capable of industrial application
Includes any physical activity of a ‘technical character’, that is, it can be interpreted as the useful or practical arts rather than the aesthetic arts.
‘Industry’
PATENT SPECIFICATION
Is the key document filed, which outlines: (4)
- Background
- Scope of the invention
- Description
- Claims
PATENT SPECIFICATION
Abstract
Scope of the invention
PATENT SPECIFICATION
Enough detailed to permit it to be executed after expiry by a person ‘skilled in the art
Description
PATENT SPECIFICATION
Strict legal text that must set out the essential features of the invention in a manner to clearly define what will infringe the patent
Claims
PATENT SPECIFICATION
In deciding when to file the patent, the innovator faces a dilemma – there is invariably a considerable delay between the date of filing and date of grant:
- Filing early may mean the specification is too broad to qualify.
- Leaving it too late may mean the specification has to be narrower in application.
Infringement of a patent (I)
Infringements are enforceable only from the date of grant, but it can be retrospectively enforced to the filing date: (2)
Where the patent is in respect of a product, infringement amounts to making, using, importing or marketing the product without the owner’s consent.
Where the patent is in respect of a process, infringement amounts to making, using, importing or marketing of a the product obtained via the process in the patented territory