John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I will be brief, because previous contributions have covered every issue that I could have raised. The Bill makes unrelated changes to current intellectual property legislation in regard to patents and trade marks.

It aims to ensure Ireland remains an attractive location for the pharmaceutical sector, which makes an important contribution to the Irish economy. It accounts for approximately a quarter of total Irish exports and is a significant employer. In 2012, a total of €55 billion worth of pharmaceutical, biological and chemistry products were exported from this country. Ireland is the eighth largest pharmaceutical producer in the world, with 25,000 direct jobs created in this country. Indeed, it is a big employer in my native County Roscommon with pharmaceutical facilities in Monksland, Castlerea and many other areas.

The Bill amends existing patent law to extend the current research exemption to developers of innovative medicinal and veterinary products. It will amend section 42 of the Patents Act 1992 to expand the research exemption provision. This exemption will now include all studies, tests, experiments, clinical and field trials and consequential practical requirements which are necessary for the purpose of obtaining marketing authorisation for a new as well as a generic product. It also amends sections 29(3) and 29(4) of the Trade Marks Act 1996. The amendments will allow Ireland to accede to the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks. This is a world intellectual property organisation treaty and aims to harmonise administrative trademark registration procedure and takes changes in new technologies into account.

I support the Bill.