Pharmaceutical Patents in Jordan

• Published date: 01 July 2012
• Author: Deema S. Jaafari
• Date: 01 July 2012
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1796.2012.00440.x

The Journal of World Intellectual Property (2012) Vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 239–250

doi: 10.1111/j.1747-1796.2012.00440.x

Pharmaceutical Patents in Jordan

Deema S. Jaafari

Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company PLC

It has been reported that pharmaceutical patents account for a significant part of patents worldwide. In order

to appraise pharmaceutical patents in Jordan, preliminarily-accepted patents published in the Official Gazette

over the past 20 years were screened, and the bibliographic data of the identified pharmaceutical patents

were entered into a custom built database. Of the 973 patents published since 1992, 36% were identified as

pharmaceutical patents. However,the contribution from domestic applicants was modest accounting for a mere

7% of pharmaceutical patents. Data analysis has revealed that the contribution of pharmaceutical patents to

published patents has doubled upon the enactment of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual

Property Rights (TRIPS)-consistent Patent Law of 1999, from 24% to 48%. However, the increase in the

patenting activity in the pharmaceutical sector was not accompanied by an increase in the overall patenting

activity. Further analysis has revealed the leading applicants, the patent status, and the main categories of

published pharmaceutical patents. It was concluded thatphar maceutical patents account for a significant part

of patents in Jordan, with marginal contribution fromdomestic applicants. It was also noted that the currently

adopted patent information system could be further improved by the introduction of electronic search services.

Keywords information; access to medicines; developing countries; pharmaceuticals

The Patent Protection Landscape in Jordan

Patent Legislation

The rights for the protection of intellectual property (IP) assets have been acknowledged in Jordan

since its establishment as a Kingdom. A reviewof the Jordanian legislation (Legislation and Opinion

Bureau, 2011) reveals that the Trademarks LawNumber 33 was issued alongside the Constitution in

1952, shortly followed by the Patents of Invention and Industrial Designs Law No. 22 for the Year

1953 (the “Old Patents Law”).

Jordan became a Member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in April 2000. As part of a

comprehensive effort to support its membership in the WTO, Jordan’s government reviewed its laws

and regulations to conform to the requirements for extending and harmonizing IP rights (IPRs),

mainly by complying with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

(TRIPS) (Holden, 2006; United States Agency for International Development,2003). More than 11

IPR-related lawswere passed between 1999 and 2004, five of which were introduced for the first time

(Tabbaa, 2007).

The Patent Law No. 32 of 1999 and its amendments (the “Patent Law”), effective since 1

December 1999, extended the level of protection for pharmaceuticals from the protection of the

chemical processes related to these products to encompass the protection of the final products as

well (Article 36). Furthermore, the Patent Law extended the patent protection term from 16 to 20

years as of the filing date (Article 17). The patent term extension was enforced retroactively on the

patents filed under the Old Patents Law that were still active when the Patent Law was enacted in

1999, pursuant to Article 35 of the Patent Law.

On 24 October 2000, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan signed an Agreement with the United

States of America (US) on the Establishmentof a Free Trade Area. Withthe signing of the Free Trade

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