Generic Company Charges Patent Abuse in South Africa.On or around October 7, a South African affiliate of Cipla, the Indian generic pharmaceutical company, filed legal action in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. , accusing GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim, the maker of nevirapine nevirapine /ne·vir·a·pine/ (ne-vir´ah-pen) a nonnucleoside inhibitor of HIV-1reverse transcriptase, used in combination with other antiretroviral agents in the treatment of HIV infection. , of abusing their patents to keep prices high. The action, described by observers as "legally groundbreaking" and "a major move," could potentially open the door to South African sales of HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. medications at prices much lower than those which will result from the voluntary licensing agreement announced the same day. Note: For a legal analysis arguing that South Africa is permitted under international trade rules to take "certain legal steps to ensure meaningful reductions in drug prices," see Tripping Over Tripping Over is a British/Australian six-part drama series. Its first episode aired on Network Ten in Australia on October 25 2006, and in the United Kingdom on Five on October 30 2006. In the UK Tripping Over is repeated on Five Life. Patents: AIDS, Access to Treatment and the Manufacturing of Scarcity, by Jonathan Michael Berger, University of Toronto Research at the University of Toronto has been responsible for the world's first electronic heart pacemaker, artificial larynx, single-lung transplant, nerve transplant, artificial pancreas, chemical laser, G-suit, the first practical electron microscope, the first cloning of T-cells, . It can be downloaded from www.tac.org.za/archive.htm (go to Research Papers). Also on international patents (although perhaps not relevant to this South African case) note Patent Politics, by Michael H. Davis, Cleveland State University Cleveland State University, at Cleveland, Ohio; coeducational; founded 1964, incorporating Fenn College (est. 1923). The Cleveland-Marshall School of law was incorporated in 1969. College of Law. Davis argues that the "ordinary practitioner" test of nonobviousness, which determines that some patents are granted and some are not, is inherently subjective, allowing patent laws to implement national industrial policy without democratic oversight -- and also making patent law not rationally transferable across national borders. The abstract and link to the full article are available through the Social Science Research Network, at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=230701 |
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