Argentina revokes restrictive biotech patent rules to boost innovation

On 18 June 2026 the Instituto Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial (INPI) issued Resolution No. 197/2026, expressly repealing Resolution No. 283/2015. The 2015 resolution had introduced restrictive criteria for examining patent applications involving biotechnological inventions, limiting protection for plants, animals and their components and discouraging investment. The repeal removes those additional formal requirements, restoring the pre‑2015 wording of the patent guidelines and expanding the scope for protecting biotech developments, while retaining existing exclusions for certain biological materials under Argentine patent law. The change fulfills commitments made in the Argentina‑United States Reciprocal Trade and Investment Agreement signed on 5 February 2026, which required the removal of restrictive regulations on pharmaceutical and biotechnological patents. The new resolution also provides a limited exception for third‑party good‑faith users of patents granted before the repeal.