Inclusion of media merger issues in patents legislation ‘odd’

Fianna Fáil has described as “very odd and slightly suspicious” the inclusion of media merger-related issues in legislation to deal with patents.

"I always get worried when I hear members of this Government slipping provisions relating to media mergers into legislation that has nothing to do with media," said the party's enterprise spokesman, Dara Calleary.

Speaking during debate on the Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014, Mr Calleary said the legislation was “being stretched to include matters linked to media mergers”.

The amendments dealing with such mergers should be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by the enterprise committee, before they are introduced during the committee stage debate, he said.

Remove ambiguity

Introducing the patents’ legislation, Minister of State

Damien English

said the amendments would “remove any potential ambiguity as to how one should interpret the provisions related to the full media mergers process, and especially the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s role when examining such a merger”.

He said the amendments addressed “some technical matters” in the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014.

The patents Bill will alter existing patents legislation “to give additional legal protection for medical research carried out prior to obtaining regulatory approval for new or generic drugs for human and veterinary use”, the Minister said.

Patent applicants

Mr English said the Trade Marks Act would also be changed to allow Ireland to ratify the Singapore Treaty to reduce red tape globally for patent applicants.

He said the Bill would “enhance the innovative culture in Ireland to make it easier for entrepreneurs to exploit their intellectual property within and outside Ireland”

Its main benefit would be to create a level of legal certainty in Ireland like that in other countries with a broader research exemption, Mr English said.

“This would help level the playing field when it comes to considering locations for future pharmaceutical investment.”

The Minister stressed that the changes “will not affect the use or pricing of generic drugs” but would allow the pharma sector to develop such drugs “while protecting them from unnecessary patent litigation”.

Fine Gael's John Deasy warned, however, that plans to introduce compulsory collective bargaining could affect potential future multinational investment.

He believed it was more about “satisfying a political ideology within the Labour Party than with any common sense when it comes to the state of our economy”.

What “really annoys me,” Mr Deasy added, “is that Fine Gael agreed to this before making any decision when it came to the Double Irish”.