LATIN AMERICAN PATENTS DISPUTE

Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico, the Group of Three trading zone (Marketletter February 21), is divided over the issue of intellectual property, with the two Andean Pact countries, Colombia and Venezuela, against Mexican patent legislation proposals.

The two are maintaining the position of the Cartagena Agreement (Andean Pact Group) and opposing Mexico on the elimination of the exemption from patenting of the World Health Organization essential drugs list. They oppose Mexico's proposal to recognize a pipeline clause similar to that contained in its patent law, and also Mexico's view that parallel imports should only be domestic and not foreign.

The free trade agreement was signed in May and is expected to take effect January 1, 1995. The total free trade area incorporates 140 million consumers and is valued at around $115 billion.