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Roffe, Pedro; Spennemann, Christoph --- "Canada – Patent Protection of Pharmaceutical Products" [ 2010] ELECD 566 ; in Correa, M. Carlos (ed), "Research Handbook on the Interpretation and Enforcement of Intellectual Property under WTO Rules" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Interpretation and Enforcement of Intellectual Property under WTO Rules

Editor(s): Correa, M. Carlos

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849801072

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Canada – Patent Protection of Pharmaceutical Products

Author(s): Roffe, Pedro; Spennemann, Christoph

Number of pages: 46

Extract:

9 Canada ­ patent protection of
pharmaceutical products
Pedro Roffe and Christoph Spennemann


Introduction
This chapter analyses the Canada ­ Patent Protection of Pharmaceuticals
case decided by a WTO panel chaired by Professor Robert Hudec that
had the European Communities as the main complainant and Canada as
respondent. The issues under discussion were in the main the compatibil-
ity of the Canadian Patent Law regarding the protection of inventions in
the area of pharmaceuticals with Articles 27, 28 and 30 of the Agreement
on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The
European Communities and their Member States requested the Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB), in November 1998, to establish a panel to
examine these matters. The Panel was established in February 1999 and
its final decision was adopted on 7 April 2000.1 The decision was not
submitted to the Appellate Body for reconsideration.
The decision has been characterized by commentators as being `the
most important analysis of the TRIPS Agreement to date',2 having `tre-
mendously important consequences for public health'.3 As to the regula-
tory review exception ­ one of the main issues before the Panel ­ it has
been highlighted that the case confirmed as `TRIPS-compliant' a patent
exception which is still relatively new, as compared to patent exceptions
traditionally known under WTO Members' domestic laws.4 The Panel

1
The report of the Panel is to be found in WTO document WT/DS114/R of
17 March 2000, hereinafter referred to as the Panel Report.
2
See ...