Government poised to submit proposal for EU drug patent law harmonization

The government is expected to present European Union (EU) negotiators with a proposal in the near future concerning harmonizing Polish medicament patent laws and drug registration rules with those of the EU. The proposal would call for the EU's medicament patent system to take effect as of January 1, 2003 for all new drugs introduced to the local market as of that date, while all other drugs already available earlier would not have to meet the 15-member bloc's patent regulations governing the introduction of new drugs onto the market until Poland becomes a full-fledged EU member. The EU has asked that Poland make its patent laws for all its medicaments EU-compliant by the January 1, 2003 deadline. (Rzeczpospolita, p.A1) A.D.