At the sixth session of the CDIP, member states agreed to establish the Database on Flexibilities in the Intellectual Property (IP) System. It contains data drawn from WIPO documents on Patent Related Flexibilities in the Multilateral Legal Framework and their Legislative Implementation at the National and Regional Levels (namely CDIP/5/4 Rev., CDIP/7/3 Add, CDIP/13/10 Rev, and CDIP/15/6 Corr.).
The database allows searches for implementation of flexibilities in national IP laws in selected jurisdictions.
Tables categorizing different provisions on specific flexibilities
- Compulsory licenses and government use
- Criminal sanctions for patent infringement
- Disclosure related flexibilities
- Exclusion from patentability of plants
- Exhaustion of rights
- Ex-officio IP office control of anti-competitive clauses in licensing agreements
- Patentability of substances existing in nature
- Patentability or exclusion from patentability, of software-related inventions
- Regulatory review exception
- Research exception
- Security exceptions
- Substantive examination
- Transition periods
- Utility models
Note – As decided by the CDIP, member states can provide updates on their national provisions related to the flexibilities included in this database.
Mechanism for updating the Database on Flexibilities in the IP System
At its eighteenth session held in 2016, the CDIP agreed to update the Database periodically, following a specific mechanism:
Member States provide the Secretariat, through an official communication, with the update(s) of their national provisions related to the flexibilities included in the Database. The update(s) notified by Member States could refer to: (i) a modification of one or several articles already included in the Database; and/or (ii) a previously non-existing article(s), newly adopted in their national law pertaining to the flexibilities contained in the Database. The update notified is immediately included in the Database in a new field named “Updates by Member States”.
For further information please see the relevant documents: