# \[e-drug\] New research synthesis on patentability criteria in the pharmaceutical sector

**URL:** <https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-new-research-synthesis-on-patentability-criteria-in-the-pharmaceutical-sector/45582>\
**Category:** e-drug\
**Created:** [March 10, 2020, 11:36am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-new-research-synthesis-on-patentability-criteria-in-the-pharmaceutical-sector/45582 "2020-03-10T11:36:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Marcela\_Vieira1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Marcela\_Vieira1](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Marcela_Vieira1)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 11:36am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-new-research-synthesis-on-patentability-criteria-in-the-pharmaceutical-sector/45582/1 "2020-03-10T11:36:53Z")

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E-DRUG: New research synthesis on patentability criteria in the pharmaceutical sector  
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Dear all,  
(apologies for cross-posting)

We would like to share with you a new research synthesis on patentability  
criteria in the pharmaceutical sector. It can be accessed at  
[https://www.knowledgeportalia.org/patentability-criteria](https://www.knowledgeportalia.org/patentability-criteria)

The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS  
Agreement) sets out basic patentability criteria, but countries have  
policy space to decide how these criteria are defined and applied at the  
national level, an important "TRIPS flexibility" that can be used to  
balance private and public interests.

Governments have adopted different practices with respect to patentability criteria, mostly addressing "secondary" patents of already known products.  
There are some studies investigating the effectiveness of such practices especially in Argentina, Brazil and India, highlighting what has worked and not worked  
and how they can be improved. There is a need for more comparative and  
empirical studies across different countries and how patentability criteria  
are applied to other health products beyond drugs.

The research syntheses are a resource of the Knowledge Portal on Innovation  
and Access, a project of the Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute of  
Geneva, and aim to provide concise, comprehensive overviews of the current  
state of research on a specific topic. There are currently 20 topics  
available under 3 themes: pricing, intellectual property and innovation. A  
list of all topics is available at  
[https://www.knowledgeportalia.org](https://www.knowledgeportalia.org)

As always, we value your comments and feedback through the contribution  
form available at the website or by email at  
globalhealthresearch@graduateinstitute.ch.

All the best,  
Marcela Vieira and Suerie Moon

Marcela Vieira  
Researcher and Project Coordinator of the  
Knowledge Network for Innovation and Access to Medicines  
[https://www.knowledgeportalia.org/](https://www.knowledgeportalia.org/)  
Global Health Centre, Research  
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies  
marcela.vieira@graduateinstitute.ch
