[excerpts]
By Susannah A. Nesmith, Associated Press
SANTO DOMINGO -- Responding to pressure from the United States, the government adopted a law in May that eliminated a provision requiring foreign companies to post a cash bond of up to $500,000 before they could sue Dominican firms for alleged patent violations. Lawyers contend that rule made it too expensive for foreigners to pursue cases.
Opponents say the new patent law still does not go far enough, and the United States is threatening to withhold preferential trade arrangements if it does not prove to be in compliance with World Trade Organization agreements.
The law has angered foreign patent holders by requiring them to grant licenses to local companies that apply to produce drugs and other goods not made locally.
Local drug companies already control 50 percent of the market in this country of 8 million people. Seven of the top 10 pharmaceutical operations here are domestically owned, and nearly 120 Dominican companies in all produce medicine.
Critics say that's because the Dominican government has not protected patents.
Foreign companies also are upset because Dominican drug firms have begun exporting to Central America in recent years. Executives at one of the top Dominican companies, Rowe Laboratories, say half of its $5 million in annual sales are to Central America.
Critics say the law's "obligatory license" clause amounts to legalizing piracy. According to the clause, a foreign patent holder that doesn't manufacture its product here is virtually obliged to grant a license to a local company in exchange for reasonable royalties. ..
The government buys locally produced medicines to supply 400 subsidized pharmacies in poor neighborhoods around the country, spending more than $9 million a year on drugs, according to a recent study by the Pan American Health Organization. ..
Government officials say they plan to tighten control by instituting effectiveness tests after a drug is put on the market. At the moment, the national laboratory tests drugs only if a problem is reported.
Local producers insist their drugs are safe even if they haven't gone through the extensive testing required in countries like the U.S. [snip...]
