This paper deals with the strategic use of patents by Transnational Companies, which guarantees them a commercial monopoly on the main products or procedures that are the object of these patents, the current tendency to patent almost everything and the possible distortion that this could cause. in the current patent system.
Reference is made to Some achievements of the Cuban biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in the face of the strategic use of patents by transnational companies.
Transnational companies are large corporations that are fundamentally characterized by a high volume of production, by the concentration of capital and other resources, by the hegemonic and monopoly power they exercise in world trade, by the large sums they invest in R&D, which guarantees them a practically absolute power of trade, they operate in a good part of the world, they dominate around two thirds of international trade. Many transnationals exceed the gross domestic product of several countries combined in their sales.
Patents are documents issued by State Offices, through which exclusive rights are recognized in favor of the owner of an invention, who can be a natural or legal person, this right generally extends for twenty years, and during this time other Individuals or institutions cannot make industrial or commercial use of this patent without a license, for which they must pay large sums of money in favor of the licensor, which are mostly transnationals because they are the largest generators of patents in the world, since They are also the ones with the capital and resources and are the ones that invest the most in R&D. which facilitates and guarantees the generation of patents.
This is a subject on which it is worth investigating, due to its topicality and the importance it has worldwide, since it is not limited only to the sphere of companies or countries, but it has to do with all of humanity as a whole, with political, social and economic relations, especially in the current moments where neoliberal globalization is intended to be imposed, with which the role of the states is limited, by a supranational government.
Con el auge actual del comercio y las nuevas exigencias de la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC), donde los países deben atemperar sus legislaciones nacionales a lo que establece la OMC, a través de los Acuerdos sobre los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad Industrial relacionados con el Comercio (ADPIC), es muy importante tener claridad y dominio de esta problemática para poder incidir favorablemente sobre estas realidades. Antes de la entrada en vigor de los ADPIC, más de 70 países no protegían los medicamentos por patentes y ahora están obligados a hacerlo, y esto le garantiza a las transnacionales que con algunos cambios en la formulación de muchos medicamentos, sin grandes inversiones y sin que necesariamente sean medicamentos totalmente nuevos, puedan agenciarse las patentes y luego los países en desarrollo no puedan acceder a ellos o tengan que pagar, también limita la producción de medicamentos genéricos que son más baratos, algo similar ocurre con las variedades vegetales donde las transnacionales le están haciendo transformaciones genéticas a las mismas variedades que han existido siempre y como consecuencia obtienen una patente, que en ocasiones no reconoce el lugar de origen del material genético y luego los nativos que llevaron años cultivando esas variedades, se ven imposibilitados de continuar haciéndolo.
It is true that states can grant compulsory licenses in situations of public interest, national emergency, health issues, military, social interest, etc., however this is sometimes not feasible due to uneven development between countries.
On the other hand, they do not invest and investigate what is convenient and interests the great masses and poor people in the world, they work on issues that bring them great economic dividends, so for example, if they talk about issues related to life, they prioritize the production of tablets and other drugs that improve the quality of life and that can be sold at high prices, but it is not researched and is produced in a general and massive way on vaccines and other drugs that would provide a solution to many epidemics and diseases that exist in the world like AIDS.
The countries or blocks that invest the most in research development are the US, the European Union and Japan and in fact they are the largest generators of patents worldwide, they are also the ones that obtain the best benefits from the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).), this treaty does not grant a patent, what it does is facilitate the procedures, by means of it applicants for a patent when making the application in one state would be doing it simultaneously in the other countries that are part of the treaty, which could be very beneficial due to the agility and promptness in the process, there is no need to register in each country independently, expenses are reduced, but this trend may in some way limit the role of the National Patent Offices.If we talk about biotechnological patents, it must be borne in mind that all National Offices are Patent Receiving Offices, but not all are International Search Authority.Around all this there are many different opinions, criteria and points of view, which is very The fact is that in the face of uneven development, developing countries have to adopt certain measures to be able to cope with the rise of transnational corporations in general and in particular with regard to patents, we only have to observe the great difference between the patents that underdeveloped countries generate towards the rest of the world in relation to those generated towards them by developed countries.Around all this there are many different opinions, criteria and points of view, what is very real is that faced with uneven development, developing countries have to adopt certain measures to be able to cope with the rise of transnationals in a general way and In particular with regard to patents, one only has to observe the great difference between the patents generated by the underdeveloped countries towards the rest of the world in relation to those generated by the developed countries.Around all this there are many different opinions, criteria and points of view, what is very real is that faced with uneven development, developing countries have to adopt certain measures to be able to cope with the rise of transnationals in a general way and in particular with regard to patents, one only has to observe the great difference between the patents generated by the underdeveloped countries towards the rest of the world in relation to those generated towards them by the developed countries.It is only necessary to observe the great difference between the patents that the underdeveloped countries generate towards the rest of the world in relation to those generated towards them by the developed countries.It is only necessary to observe the great difference between the patents that the underdeveloped countries generate towards the rest of the world in relation to those generated towards them by the developed countries.
Cuba is on the way to adapt its legislation on patents and for this, modifications have already been made to article 39 of Decree Law 68 of 1983 through Decree Law 160 of 1995 in relation to the patent protection of pharmaceutical and chemical products for agriculture, it is necessary to incorporate into the legislation what is related to the treatment of utility models, in this we have been working, along with other proposed modifications. However, the transformation of the entire legal basis related to this issue must continue in the interest of complying with the obligations and agreements signed by the Republic of Cuba. Like the TRIPS agreement.
Developing countries must defend themselves against the deliberate action of multinationals to protect almost everything through patents, which undoubtedly affects less developed countries, since once new products or procedures are patented, access is difficult, and there are products and procedures that are patented today, that have to do with life, health and food, that are inalienable rights of the human being. If the patent law is exercised in an excessive way by transnationals, the right to easily access the markets of hundreds of human beings in the world is being limited, since patents are closely linked to trade. Knowledge can be accessed in some way because the inventor has an obligation to sufficiently disclose the invention,and the patent can be used to generate new knowledge and new technologies, however, developing countries have limitations for this due to the level of development of the productive forces.
All this has to do with staple productions such as those related to health and food, so that if they are not controlled, the access of minorities to these vital issues would be limited as is happening today. Where nature is not cared for and fundamental human rights such as economic, cultural and social are restricted. The transnational companies try to impose their models on everything, to which patents do not escape and this can distort the principles and bases on which the current patent system is based. Patents were conceived in the beginning to facilitate technical scientific progress and were fundamentally associated with machinery, devices and procedures for obtaining these, however now the field has been considerably expanded.So the trend is towards globalized control of the economy.
In all this, the Transnational Pharmaceutical Companies constitute an element to be taken into account by the Cuban pharmaceutical industry due to the incidence and potential degree of affectation that they could cause to the national pharmaceutical industry, if a true defense strategy against excessive use is not achieved. and indiscriminate of patents for these.
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in Cuba is a strategic branch for the country's development and is among those that contribute the most to GDP, there are several institutions that are dedicated to this activity and within these the centers of the West Scientific Pole of Havana, which have achieved the sanitary registration of several medical products in different countries, some of these the only ones of their kind on the market such as recombinant strectokinase and the vaccine against type B meningitis. The entire boom and development of biotechnology has been made possible by the effort made by the Revolution in the preparation of human capital from the first years, beginning with the literacy campaign until all the subsequent educational development that has been achieved.And also because of the large resources that are generally invested in R&D. Now this effort could be limited by the strategic use of patents by transnational companies, since in this way access to markets and technologies can be limited, which is very important in today's times where products are increasingly plus a higher dose of knowledge than raw materials.
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