In an open letter released on August 25th, ABPI, along with other entities, took a stand against the presidential approval of Bill 12/2021, in the form of the substitute text approved by the Federal Senate on 08/11/2021. Bill 12/2021 amends the current legislation on patents (Law 9,279/96) and modifies the provisions related to the possibility of granting a compulsory license in cases of national or international emergency or of public interest, declared in a Federal Executive Power act.
The document states that “The granting of compulsory licenses in exceptional situations is already permitted by current legislation and, in its form adopted in Brazil, is supported by the Constitution and international treaties to which Brazil is a signatory. It is not necessary to change the law so that there is a patent breaking.
The document continues: “There is no investigative process in Brazil to assess shortages due to patent holders’ fault or abusive use of these, which could give rise to any compulsory license”, also noting that “there is no international consensus on the need for patent breaking to fight the Covid-19 pandemic or a flexibilization in the protection of inventions developed to fight the pandemic”. Concerning the amendment of the law, the document warns about the potential impacts involving innovative sectors that use intellectual property. And it goes on: “there is no news that a compulsory license has been granted to fight the current pandemic in any country in the world. Despite this, vaccination is advancing on all continents, including Brazil”.
After the approval of the Bill by the National Congress, the Presidency of the Republic issued Veto Message No. 432 of 09/02/2021, informing the Federal Senate of the decision to “partially veto Bill No. 12, 2021, due to opposition to the public interest”, thus meeting some of the claims defended by ABPI in its open letter. On the date of the partial veto Law No. 14,200 was published and entered into force.
View the complete document on ABPI’s website.
