For pharmaceutical industry companies, each day of market
monopoly enjoyed thanks to a patent means some handsome profits. No
wonder that concerns try to extend protection for as long as
possible. At the same time, generic drug producers use the Bolar
exemption to enter into the game as quickly as possible.
Specificity of the patent monopoly in the pharmaceutical
industry
Generally, by being granted a patent you acquire the right to
exclusively use an invention for profit-making or business purposes
in the whole territory of the Republic of Poland and this monopoly
is granted for 20 years from the day the patent application is
filed with the Polish Patent Office (Article 63 of the
IPL1). The pharmaceutical industry is also offered a
very important possibility of extending protection for a drug
product by a maximum of 5 years when the patent protection expires
on the basis of an additional protection right, this being
Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC). The
