Medicines and their legal protection as objects of intellectual property law

Abstract

Nowadays, the monopoly created by intellectual property has the greatest impact on the market of innovative medical technologies and medicines. Access to the latter in the medical field is primarily related to intellectual property law, which aims to ensure the preservation and protection of innovations when used in medical practice, as well as to ensure fair distribution of benefits from the use of medicines and innovative medical technologies. However, in the context of the pandemic, the problem of access to appropriate treatment has become global, as the patent monopoly has come into conflict with fundamental human rights. The world has faced the problem of "pharmaceutical nationalism", when governments have provided priority access to appropriate treatment within their own borders and restrained the import of drugs. Therefore, the topic of medicines, their legal protection and features of access to their use in emergency situations (in particular, pandemics) is especially relevant today and requires detailed study. After all, the awareness of the need to strike a balance between intellectual property rights and fundamental human rights, such as the right to life and health, led to a compromise and the development of adequate legal mechanisms in the field of medicines and innovative medical technologies. The study of the features of the legal protection of a medicinal product is the basis for the functioning of the entire health care sector, in which the subjects are the authorities, manufacturers of medicinal products, research institutions, specialists in this field and consumers. The article examines the legal protection of medicines as objects of intellectual property rights, as well as the peculiarities of access to their use in a pandemic.