A vote to change a single paragraph of Brazil’s industrial property law could pose a significant threat to innovation in the country. Earlier in April, Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli suspended a rule allowing increases to the terms of medical patents, a decision that takes Brazil one step closer to imposing limits on legal protections for drugs and health processes. While potentially beneficial to manufacturers of generic medicines, the move represents a blow for those seeking to invest in new technology in Brazil.
Brazil’s industrial patent law states that all patents should have a duration of ten years....
