Brazilian_Patent_Reform

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there has been an increase of innovation in developing and least developed countries,
whether by means of technology transfer and local production or of an increase in
foreign direct investment in the country.
The promotion of innovation has been negatively influenced even in developed
countries, as shown by studies on the low quality of patents granted.
In other words, neither the promotion of innovation nor economic and technological
development have stemmed from the tightening of intellectual property rights which
took place in the mid-1990’s.
Facts and evidence have not been supportive of the patent system as we know it. There is
a need for re-thinking and renovating the patent regime so that its goals can be reached:
innovation and technology transfer aimed at economic, social and technological
development.
1.3 The human right to health and
the impact of patents
The negative impact that the system of intellectual property rights has been making
on the access to products or processes protected by patents is notorious. This issue is
especially serious in regard to the enjoyment of fundamental rights such as culture,
education and health, for instance. We will proceed to briefly approach this matter, with
a special focus on the case of the human right to health, which is especially emblematic
in this debate.
The right to health is internationally recognized as a fundamental right of every human
being. With the constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1946,
health began to be seen as a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being”,
and “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” became “one of the
fundamental rights of every human being” 62 .
The leading international human rights treaties, all signed by Brazil, establish the right
to health as a fundamental human right. Among them, the UN’s Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (“Article 25. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate
for the health and well-being of himself and of his family”), the OAS’s 1948 American
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (“Article 11. Every person has the right
to the preservation of his health through sanitary and social measures relating to food,
clothing, housing and medical care, to the extent permitted by public and community
resources.”) and the UN’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
62 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. WHO’s Constitution. Available at http://apps.who.int/gb/bd/PDF/
bd47/EN/constitution-en.pdf. Last access in 11 January 2011.