The Patentability of the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Public Interest in the Protection of Health

Carina Carvalho Magalhães

Keywords

Propriedade Intelectual, Patente, Medicamento, Saúde, Autorização de Introdução no Mercado

Abstract

On pharmaceutical law, in particular, and on the sphere of human rights, in general, two interests of a primordial nature prone to colliding: on one side, the concession of an exclusive right, resulting of a patent, and as such a legal monopoly (private interest); on the other, a protected access to medicines, allowing goods, considered a basic need, to be accessible to the public at affordable prices (public interest). This study encompasses these two approaches, using has guideline the Portuguese legal system.