Indonesian Court Rules Against Patent Evergreening, Signaling a Shift in How Countries Can Challenge Pharma IP Tactics

An Indonesian court has ruled against pharmaceutical patent evergreening, a practice where companies extend patent protections on existing drugs through minor modifications to delay generic competition. Patient advocates are calling the decision a model for other low- and middle-income countries seeking to improve access to affordable medicines.

Why it matters

Patent evergreening is not a fringe tactic. It is a well-documented strategy where pharmaceutical companies file new patents on reformulated or slightly modified versions of existing drugs, effectively extending market exclusivity well beyond the original patent term. The result is delayed generic entry, sustained high prices, and restricted access, particularly in countries where health budgets are already stretched thin.

The Indonesian ruling is significant because it shows that existing legal frameworks, including the flexibilities built into the TRIPS Agreement, can be used by national courts to push back. Patient advocates are right to highlight this as a signal. But the harder work is building the legal expertise, political will, and institutional infrastructure within health ministries to make these challenges routine rather than exceptional.

What to watch

Whether other countries in Southeast Asia or sub-Saharan Africa cite this ruling as precedent in their own patent challenges, and how multinational pharma companies adjust their IP filing strategies in response.