Hernández-Martí attended, as listener, the virtual round table organized by the OEPM where it was discussed how the Office as well as the Spanish Government will react towards a vaccine or medical treatment directed to decrease the effects of the current pandemic caused by the Covid-19, within the industrial property field.

There is currently no vaccine or medical treatment that can mitigate the effects of the pandemic. It was therefore stressed that the role of the office is to facilitate and disseminate all available patent information and literature in the concerned field in order to contribute in research development. On the OEPM official web page, various official bulletins on technological surveillance have been made available to the public in relation to possible treatments and relevant information on Covid-19.

However, during the discussion it was explained the possible mechanisms included in the current Patent Act (Act 24/2015) and in various international treaties (TRIPS, Madrid Convention…), which could be activated in the event that patent applications having as subject matter the possible vaccine or medical treatment, were received in the coming months.

The speakers agreed that the granting of a compulsory license for reasons of public interest would be the scenario that would best fit with a patent application or registration that has a positive impact on the control of Covid-19. This assumption is embodied in Article 95 of Act 25/2015 and is a mechanism of easy and fast implementation, which would be regulated through a Royal Decree agreed by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, where the fees and terms of the license shall already be indicated. This would prevent possible anti-competitive practices and ensure the supply of national demand.

In any case, both the guest speakers and the OEPM pointed out that caution should be a common factor as to not discourage research without establishing measures that may be quasi-confiscatory, and, on the other hand, to avoid unnecessary negotiations between the parties, since a delay in the implementation of the license due to the situation of extreme urgency generated by Covid-19 disease cannot be allowed either.