PARAGUAYAN DRUG FIRMS LOOK TO OVERTURN PATENTS

According to local sources, Paraguay's trade ministry has failed to respond to three letters of complaint regarding patent rights in 2005. The letters, sent by domestic drugmakers' association Cifarma, allege that the country's patent office has awarded roughly 140 patents illegally.

Under legislation adopted in late 2002, the patenting of pharmaceuticals in Paraguay was prohibited until the start of 2005, and all previously awarded patents were revoked. Drug patents awarded during this period -- many of them held by leading multinationals -- appear to have been granted during a period of overlapping responsibility between Paraguay's trade ministry and the patent office.

Cifarma is now also arguing that even so-called "process patents," rather than full product patents, were also outlawed by the 2002 legislation. Meanwhile, US industry sources note that Paraguay -- South America's most significant producer of counterfeit and illegal copy medicines -- continues to enjoy broad powers over compulsory licensing. There are credible reports that such measures are widely used to the benefit of domestic manufacturers.