18/04/2019 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday, 17 April, the European Parliament adopted a targeted revision of patent rules applicable to pharmaceutical products (see EUROPE 12194/4). The new regulation allows European pharmaceutical companies to export generic and biosimilar medicines to non-EU countries where intellectual property protection has expired or never existed. At the request of the European Parliament, it also enables these companies to build up a stock of generics during the last six months of the original drug’s patent protection. The amended regulation will apply to all Member States 20 days after it is published in the Official Journal. It will apply starting on 1 July 2022 to supplementary protection certificates that have already been applied but whose protection has not yet entered into force. Link to the legal text: https://bit.ly/2UmUtE1. (SPj)