New report calls for drug patent term restoration in Canada

Canada has fallen behind many other leading advanced countries in patent protection, impairing the country's investment climate, according to a new report, titled Innovation for a Better Tomorrow: Closing Canada’s Intellectual Property Gap, by the Canadian Intellectual Property Council, an arm of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Canada must improve and strengthen its intellectual property regime to close the gap with other leading industrialized countries to attract research and investment in the pharmaceutical sector, it states.

The report, released Wednesday, urges the government to give patented drugmakers up to five years of “restored” patent life – as offered in both the USA and Europe - to offset regulatory delays, exclusive use of drug trial data for an extra two years plus new legal tools to fight patent challenges launched by generic manufacturers."