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COLOMBIA | Anti-counterfeiting, Criminal Law, Intellectual Property | Colombia: New abbreviated criminal procedure will favor the sanction of crimes against Intellectual Property and Commercial Activities
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On 12 January 2017 -and with the issuance of Law 1826 of 2017– the Colombian Congress introduced substantial changes to the Colombian criminal procedure, which are applicable to some offences (including those against property, intellectual property, copyright, personal data protection, unlawful use of patents, usurpation of industrial property rights and violation of trade and commercial secrets).
The new law will greatly expand the work scope of attorneys representing victims/claimants, since (i) the Prosecutor can be requested to carry out the conversion of the public criminal action into a private one, and (ii) it will be allowed the participation of claimant’s attorneys as private accusers, being possible to assume tasks in charge of the Prosecutor’s Office -like investigation or request of evidence-. The new law will reduce the criminal from 5 to 2 hearings (concentrated hearing and sentencing hearing).
The new law will be into force six months after its issuance (on 12 June 2017).
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COLOMBIA | Antitrust, Consumer Law, Regulatory | Colombian Authority on Consumer Law sanctioned “Cruz Verde” drugstore chain for disobeying price control in pharmaceuticals
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On 21 December 2016 -and by means of Resolution 88223 of 2016-, the Colombian Authority on Consumer Law (Superintendence of Industry and Commerce -SIC-) sanctioned the drugstore chain “Droguerías y Farmacias Cruz Verde S.A.S.” with a fine of USD $394.000 (369.000 eur), considering that Cruz Verde sold several references of medicines way above the prices established in Circular 07/2013 of the National Pharmaceutical Price Commission (NPPC).
Specifically, the SIC found that Cruz Verde in 2014 sold 56 pharmaceuticals (here is the list) above the prices established by Government, including some with a surcharge of more than 3000%. The SIC warns that it will continue to conduct ex officio investigations for those offering medicines with regulated prices above the values set by the Government.
For more information, please visit the following link.
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COLOMBIA | Patents | Opening of the third cohort of the Medellin Patent Fund
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Until February 10 will be possible to apply to the in the second patent fund organized by Ruta N and Colciencias, which seeks to select projects susceptible of patent protection and with that, encourage the commercial exploitation of them.
Applicants could be natural or legal persons who perform their activities mainly in Antioquia, which -if chosen-, will obtain a funding between 50 and 80% for the preparation of the patent application.
For more information, please visit this link.
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PERU | Patents, Regulatory | Peru: Modification to the Law in Pharmaceuticals Products simplifies Marketing Authorization process
By means of Legislative Decree 1344 (issued on 7 January 2017), the Peruvian Government optimized certain procedures related to the Law of Pharmaceutical Products and Medical Devices.
Within its most relevant changes, (i) eliminates dietary products and sweeteners from pharmaceuticals classification, (ii) allows the acceptance of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certificates issued by Regulatory Authorities qualified by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) when registering or renewing pharmaceutical products, and (iii) exempts the submission of GMP certificates to those products prequalified by WHO.
COLOMBIA | Corporate Law | Colombian Government updates economic threshold of Mergers and Acquisitions subject to antitrust approval
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On 29 December 2016 -and by means of Resolution 90556 of 2016, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism updated the economic threshold of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) which must be reported and authorized by the Colombian Antitrust Authority (Superintendence of Industry and Commerce -SIC-).
The new threshold is 60 thousand Minimum Monthly Legal Wages (SMLMV in Spanish), equivalent to more than USD $15 million (or 14 million euros)
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USA | Patents | Who obtained most patents in 2016? Samsung or IBM?
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According to the statistics start-up Sqoop -and for the first time in 23 years- IBM is no longer the largest patent recipient in the USA, giving the first place to Samsung.
According to the Sqoop report, Samsung obtained the grant of 8551 patent applications, displacing IBM to second place with 8062 patents granted.
Nevertheless, IFM Claims patent service (offered by Fairview Research) argues otherwise, arguing that IBM was the largest patent recipient in the United States during 2016.
The discrepancy between the two reports is in the methodology.
