Acknowledgements

The Patent Opposition Database is a project of the Médecins Sans Frontières Access Campaign. It provides support and resources for those wanting to challenge patents on medicines. It was created under a UNITAID grant in support of the endTB project http://www.endtb.org/

The Patent Opposition Database was launched a decade after civil society in Thailand successfully opposed the patent on the HIV drug didanosine, in a move that established an important precedent for patient and public interest groups to challenge patents wrongly granted by local patent offices and that blocked access to medicines for people living with HIV, cancer and other diseases.

Since then, civil society in Asia and Latin America have, with minimum resources, opposed patent applications to protect local production of medicines for cancer, HIV, and Hepatitis C, which has resulted in reduced prices for drugs.

This resource was created by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as a tribute to those individuals, groups, advisers, lawyers, pharmacists, treatment activists and others who paved the way and fought complex patent disputes against all odds. The MSF Access Campaign would also like to extend our thanks to the colleagues who provided thoughtful inputs during the process of developing, shaping and drafting patent oppositions and revising this database.

We pay special tribute to the following individuals, organisations and groups:

AIDS Access Foundation, AIDS Law Project, Alianza LAC-Global, Alternate Law Forum, Asia Pacific Network of Positive People (APN+), Brazilian Interdisciplinary Aids Association (ABIA), Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA), Conectas Direitos Humanos, Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+), Federação Nacional dos Farmacêuticos, GAPA – RS, GAPA – SP, Gestos, Grupo de Incentivo à Vida (GIV), Grupo de Resistência Asa Branca (GRAB), Grupo Pela Vidda RJ,Grupo Pela Vidda SP, I-MAK, Indian Network of Positive People (INP+), Instituto de Defesa do Consumidor (IDEC), Lawyers Collective, Manipur Network of Positive People (MNP+), Network of Maharashtra People living with HIV/AIDS (NMP+), Positive Women's Network (PWN+), Projeto Esperança São Miguel do Paulista, Rede Nacional de Pessoas Vivendo com HIV/AIDS – (RNP+ Maranhão), SAHARA (Centre for Residential Care & Rehabilitation), Tamil Nadu Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (TNNP+), Thai Drug User Network (TDN), Thai Foundation for Consumers, Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (TNP+), Thailand Treatment Action Group (TTAG), Treatment Access Campaign (TAC), Uttar Pradesh Network of Positive People (UPN+), Vietnam National Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (VNP+), Working Group on Intellectual Property of the Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples (GTPI/Rebrip).

Tahir Amin, Kajal Bhardwaj, Pascale Boulet, Gabriela Costas Chaves, Carlos Correa, Vishwas Devaiah, Lorena Di Giano, Vivek Divan, Loon Gangte, Christopher Garrison, Anand Grover, Joan Hu, Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, KM Gopa Kumar, Jiraporn Limpananont, Suerie Moon, Chan Park, Shiba Phurailatpam, Priti Radhakrishnan, Dan Ravisher, Renata Reis, Bhaven Sampat, Y.K. Sapru, Ellen ‘t Hoen, Karin Timmermans, Marcela Vieira, Pedro Villardi.