Cover Story
policy to manage the practice , the law provides that a trademark owner ’ s rights are exhausted after goods bearing the mark are first put on sale with his consent anywhere within the European Economic Area ( EEA ). The practice of parallel importation is permissible in the EEA , subject to compliance with certain principles and procedures . This is the same principle which proponents of parallel importation of pharmaceuticals base their argument in support of parallel importation in other jurisdictions such as the case of Kenya . If a manufacturer sells its patented product to its distributor in Turkey , for instance , and the distributor sales it to a customer who exports it to another country like Kenya , then the brand owner ( manufacturer ) cannot make any legitimate claim to the ownership of the product as its rights are exhausted after they put the product on first sale in Turkey .
Commercial Background of Parallel importation
Dr . Toroitich said that the practice of parallel importation is driven by price differences among different markets . In the case of EU countries , prices for pharmaceutical products are generally set bythe governments of each member state dependent on national policy considerations and the operation of social security systems .
He said that parallel importers operate outside the distribution network set up by the manufacturer or their authorised distributor by taking advantage of price divergences between different markets . This , in turn , profits them from purchasing goods in low-priced markets and reselling them at a discount in higher price markets .
U . S . Ambassador to Kenya Robert F . Godec takes a tour of the KEMSA warehouse
Justification of PI
A case for parallel importation is made when the price of a given medication is prohibitively high or the product is not available thereby denying access to those in need , said the officer .
In this case , countries make decisions to allow for importation of the medication from markets where it is available and much cheaper , and the price benefits to the patient population of interest can be demonstrated .
“ In such circumstances , a firm which is not the appointed distributor of the said manufacturer acts as a parallel channel to import the product into the country . In this way there is improved access by the patient population of interest of the drug product being imported ,” said Dr . Toroitich .
22 November-December 2016