June 19- The NHRCK called on the Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), to limit their enforcement of patent rights for the AIDS drug “Fuzeon.” By limiting the enforcement of patent rights, it will enable others to use information protected by certain patents to help with inventions that will benefit the public interest. This system has been discussed as a way to provide essential drugs that would violate the patent holder’s rights.
Fuzeon is an indispensable drug for certain groups of people with AIDS. The drug has been licensed to be sold in Korea since May 2004. Price negotiations, which have been proceeding with difficulty, have been going on between the Ministery for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs and Roche Korea. The drug has not come into the Korean market yet.
“Article 107 of the Patent Law and Article 31 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) of the WTO, clearly states that an individual country can limit the enforcement of patent rights, if it benefits the public interest.” The NHRCK also added, “A number of countries have already commenced this type of limitation on patent rights.”
According to the NHRCK, the Brazilian government carried out a limitation on the enforcement of patent rights for an AIDS drug in August 2001, and later withdrew it after the drug manufacturer cut the price by 40 percent. The Thailand government also carried out a similar policy on drugs for AIDS and cardiac disorder in 2006. The U.S. and Canada did the same for an anthrax drug.
The NHRCK said, “Fuzeon is essential for certain people with AIDS to keep their lives, but its stable supply would not be secured soon.” The NHRCK added, “Patients’ right to life should take priority before the patent right. Even if there are colliding views on the topic of protecting intellectual property rights and protecting the right to life or the right to health, a government has a duty to preferentially respect and protect human rights of its citizens.”
