INTERNATIONAL | Intellectual Property | World Intellectual Property Day celebration
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On 26 April 2016 was celebrated the World Intellectual Property Day, which praises the role of IP rights (copyright, patents, trademarks, industrial designs) as important tools for the development of innovation and creativity. OlarteMoure highlights the importance of this date –established on 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly – and sends warm greetings to all of our clients.
COLOMBIA | Patents | Novartis discloses its response to Ministry of Health and Social Protection formal price offer on the imatinib’s (Glivec®) case
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On 20 April 2016, Novartis AG and Novartis de Colombia S.A. replied to the formal price offer issued by the Minister of Health and Social Protection in the current Administrative Process for the Declaration of Public Interest (DPI) seeking a Compulsory License of Imatinib (Glivec®).
In the reply, Novartis states that Compulsory Licenses are a legal mechanism intended to be used in exceptional circumstances, which do not apply in the case of Glivec, and therefore Novartis considered it is not appropriate to engage in price negotiations.
In addition, Novartis expressed its commitment to explore other alternatives with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in order to reach a favorable solution for patients, the healthcare system and innovation.
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COLOMBIA | Patents | Fund for promoting the protection of inventions
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The Fund for Promoting the Protection of Inventions is a government-funded financial incentive program for universities, businesses, technological research centers and individual inventors which promotes the protection of technological innovations via patents.
The program was initially implemented in 2015 in Medellin, with 70 projects successfully accomplished, for which the Fund covered 80% of the drafting and filing costs.
In 2016, the Fund for Promoting the Protection of Inventions will continue in Medellin and will extend to Barranquilla, Bogotá, Bucaramanga and Cali. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
COLOMBIA | Trademarks | Trademarks using expressions related to the financial industry can only be used by companies authorized to exercise financial activities
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The Colombian Trademark Office (Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio, SIC) ratified the prohibition to register trademarks using financial industry intrinsic expressions by applicants different from financial intermediaries.
On 4 April 2016, the SIC issued Resolution No. 15934/16 granting the opposition filed by the Administradora Colombiana de Pensiones Colpensiones, and rejecting the nominative trademark CREDIPENSIONES SANTA FE, requested by a no-financial industry applicant to distinguish services classified under class 36 of the Nice International Classification (insurance, financial affairs, monetary affairs and real estate affairs).
The rejection was based on the Organic Statute of the Financial System, that exclusively allows only financial industry companies authorized by the Colombian financial regulation government agency (Superintendencia Financiera) the use of expressions related to financial activities.
COLOMBIA | Regulatory | Changes in medical prescription procedures: technical and scientific committees are replaced by new procedure
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On 1 June 2016 Resolution No. 1328 of 2016 will come into force, by means of which the technical and scientific committees will be replaced by a new model that allows authorized-health professionals to prescribe medications and health services that are not covered by the Mandatory Health Plan (POS).
The new model –for now only applicable in Colombian health insurance contributive regime- will create a database of prescribers, in order to save patients time, and also allowing to monitor medicaments and treatments prescribed by health professionals.
