IP Dept certain Sec 44 order will not cause drug price hike

[webfact]

IP Dept certain Sec 44 order will not cause drug price hike

 

BANGKOK, 14 April 2017 (NNT) - The Department of Intellectual Property has given an assurance that the use of Section 44 to expedite patent filings is intended as a temporary measure and will not result in a dramatic increase in drug prices. 

Tossapol Tungsubut, Director-General of the Department of Intellectual Property, said today the invocation of Section 44 of the 2014 Interim Constitution was to expedite the patent approval process. 

Over the past 20 years, the department has had only 24 patent inspectors, but receives over 9,000 patent applications per year. This has resulted in a backlog of over 36,000 patent applications, of which 12,000 are more than five years old. In response to concerns that the price of medication will increase with the expedited approval process, the department head asserted that there are several factors that contribute to the price of drugs, including investment in research and development and marketing expenses. 

However, Tossapol said that a patent does not give pharmaceutical companies free license to flout commercial regulations or take advantage of consumers. He added that the government has several mechanisms in place to regulate drug prices, through the Ministries of Commerce and Public Health.

 

-- nnt 2017-04-14

[ChrisY1]

36,000 backlog patents.....I'm assuming for drugs?.....This doesn't even seem possible...but it is Thailand!

[elgordo38]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

several factors that contribute to the price of drugs, including investment in research and development and marketing expenses. 

Yes the big pharma's from the west have started to arrive brace yourself. If the IP boys the intellectual property people are on the scene they will be checking all the labels and ingredients to make sure that they are getting their cut and that there are no fake drugs floating around. After all they are keenly worried about your health and well being. Nobody wants to loose a paying customer ha ha ha.  

Edited April 14, 2017 by elgordo38

[GarryP]

18 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Yes the big pharma's from the west have started to arrive brace yourself. If the IP boys the intellectual property people are on the scene they will be checking all the labels and ingredients to make sure that they are getting their cut and that there are no fake drugs floating around. After all they are keenly worried about your health and well being. Nobody wants to loose a paying customer ha ha ha.  

Sorry but you are a bit off. Thailand is one of the few countries that has acted against Big Pharma by introducing compulsory licensing.  It is probably one of the main reasons why Thailand is still listed as one of the worst offenders under the USTR Priority Watch List. Rather than thinking of pharma interests it acted on behalf of patients (this happened quite a few years ago). One of the few positives.

 

However, changes , may be on the way and patient rights may be pushed out of the window.  

[elgordo38]

10 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Sorry but you are a bit off. Thailand is one of the few countries that has acted against Big Pharma by introducing compulsory licensing.  It is probably one of the main reasons why Thailand is still listed as one of the worst offenders under the USTR Priority Watch List. Rather than thinking of pharma interests it acted on behalf of patients (this happened quite a few years ago). One of the few positives.

 

However, changes , may be on the way and patient rights may be pushed out of the window.  

Thanks for the update. One wonders about the IP part??

[The Dark Lord]

I understood the headline to be a happy note for those who dabble in the illegal stuff. 

 

As such my impression of the the governing party shot up, albeit temporarily.

 

Whoops my bad!

[Chris Lawrence]

Sounds as though they are doing their job, right? Beat up.

[Srikcir]

The problem:

14 hours ago, webfact said:

the department has had only 24 patent inspectors, but receives over 9,000 patent applications per year. This has resulted in a backlog of over 36,000 patent applications, of which 12,000 are more than five years old.

The solution:

14 hours ago, webfact said:

invocation of Section 44 of the 2014 Interim Constitution was to expedite the patent approval process. 

The disconnect:

It's a problem of understaffing. There is no information regarding how expediting the patent approval process accelerates approval.  Using Article 44 will the Department of IP simply rubber-stamp approval of patent applications backlog without any investigation? That will create imperfect patents that ultimately will be tried in the courts that will be even less capable of handling large volume of legal challenges.

Hire more staff and/or contractors for temporary support to clear the backlog. Article 44 is unnecessary and likely ineffective.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

7 hours ago, Srikcir said:

The problem:

The solution:

The disconnect:

It's a problem of understaffing. There is no information regarding how expediting the patent approval process accelerates approval.  Using Article 44 will the Department of IP simply rubber-stamp approval of patent applications backlog without any investigation? That will create imperfect patents that ultimately will be tried in the courts that will be even less capable of handling large volume of legal challenges.

Hire more staff and/or contractors for temporary support to clear the backlog. Article 44 is unnecessary and likely ineffective.

Yes and that is why activists complained. After some of these patents are approved the generics will become illegal and could be removed from the market which will increase the price of medication. Just another slap in the face of the Thai poor.