The invention patent has a 20-year term, counted from the filing
date of the respective application for registration, once it is
granted. The patent grants its owner the exclusive right to prevent
third parties not having the owner's consent from performing
any of the following acts: a) when a product is claimed in the
patent: i) manufacture the product; ii) offer for sale, sale or use
the product; or import it for any of these purposes; and, b) when a
process is claimed in the patent: i) use the process; or ii)
perform any of the acts indicated in a) with respect to a product
obtained directly by the process.
Nevertheless, once the invention patent protection term has
expired, any person is free to manufacture the product and offer it
for sale. In the case of pharmaceutical products, the version which
copies exactly the original product which patent has expired is the
so-called "generic drug" or "multisource drug".
It is not a free or unrestricted copy. The copy,
