With this consultation the Commission seeks the views of stakeholders on the Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPC) and patent research exemption of SPCs. Citizens and stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on their experience and knowledge, which the Commission will carefully analyse before deciding whether and to what extent it should take further action. SPCs are a unique intellectual property right that constitute an extension (of up to 5 years) to the term of a patent right (of 20 years). SPCs apply to innovative pharmaceutical and plant protection products that have been authorised by regulatory authorities. They aim to offset the loss of effective patent protection that occurs due to the compulsory and lengthy testing and clinical trials that products require prior to obtaining regulatory marketing approval.
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