We wish to share with the valued public, our thoughts which form the basis for our views concerning the Paten Draft Law which is still in the process of being evaluated in the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey). 

Patents are an exception to policies against monopolies which encourage competition. With the patent system, inventors are provided with a certain period of market exclusivity to reward and encourage such inventions. From this aspect patents are a required element for the pharmaceutical sector and the pharmaceutical sector is one on the main users of the patent system.

As IEIS we find that the patent system developed to encourage innovation is indispensible. However, we are also against the delay of competition by means of abusing intellectual property rights.

According to the findings of research and inquiries that have been conducted by public organizations as a result of the delay in generics entering the market that has been observed in the sector in recent years; there is an indication that the patent system is being used to delay or prevent competition. 

In the pharmaceutical sector investigation conducted by the European Commission Competition General Directorate in this context it has been proven with solid evidence that the patent system was abused to prevent competition throughout the European Union (EU) during the period of 2000-2007.

It was determined that there were 40,000 patents or patent applications for the 219 active ingredients which were the subject of the investigation. The number of patents per active ingredient reaches up to 1,300 in some pharmaceuticals. 87% of the patents that were examined are secondary patents which encompass the main patent. Patent conglomerations are being formed with secondary patents surrounding the main patent, protecting the molecule, and the patent applications for which the assessment period is ongoing, using the described approach and thus the legal uncertainty that is created in this manner is delaying or obstructing the entry of a legitimate generic pharmaceutical into the market. A similar study was started by the Competition Board in our country in 2009 and in the resulting report disclosed in April 2013 similar conclusions were reached to those obtained by the European Commission Competition General Directorate.

The delay and obstruction of generic pharmaceuticals competition limits patient access to reliable pharmaceuticals and due to its adverse impact on the public finances constitutes a significant obstruction to the rational use of resources.

In order for all of these adversities to be resolved the level of patent quality needs to be raised and improvements and amendments need to be made in the areas of the system that are exposed to abuse. In this respect the highest quality of application assessment, the decision of whether or not the application is eligible for patent protection being made in the shortest possible time and the immediate removal of legal uncertainties concerning the entry of the generic pharmaceuticals into the markets are of critical importance. Patent quality needs to be increased and patents should be given only to actual inventions.

A patent system which is formed in a balance between private and public interests will not only protect intellectual property rights but at the same time will provide benefits for public health and public finance within a fair competition order.