TerraLex Cross Border Patent Guide

In Argentina, patents and utility models are primarily governed by Law No. 24,481, as amended, together with Decree No. 260/1996 (the Patent Law). Additionally, Argentina is a member of key international agreements, including:

• Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Law No. 17,011)
• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (Law No. 24,425)

However, Argentina has not adhered to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Yes. Employee inventions are specifically regulated under Article 10 of Law No. 24,481. The law distinguishes between different categories of inventions:

• If created in the course of the employee’s normal duties or using the employer’s resources, the rights belong to the employer.
• If developed outside the scope of employment and without employer resources, the rights remain with the employee.
• If the invention is related to the employee’s work but not part of their direct duties, both parties may have rights, and the employee is entitled to fair compensation.

This framework ensures a balance between the employer’s interest in workplace innovations and the employee’s right to recognition and remuneration.

Under Law No. 24,481 (Patent Law), the following can be protected:

• Products: New technical solutions embodied in physical goods.
• Processes/Methods: Innovative ways of producing or using products.
• Utility Models: Minor innovations that improve the function or utility of existing products.

To qualify, an invention must meet three criteria:

1. Novelty – It must not have been disclosed anywhere in the world before the filing date.
2. Inventive step – It must not be obvious to a person skilled in the relevant field.
3. Industrial applicability – It must be capable of being produced or used in industry.

Argentine Patent Law establishes that certain subject matter is not considered an invention and therefore cannot be patented:

1. Abstract Knowledge and Methods

• Discoveries of natural phenomena or substances existing in nature.
• Scientific theories and mathematical methods.
• Presentations of information without technical character.

2. Artistic and Aesthetic Creations

• Literary, artistic, or aesthetic works.
• Purely ornamental designs.

3. Organizational and Business Methods

• Plans, rules, and methods for intellectual activities, games, or business.
• Commercial or administrative methods.

4. Medical and Veterinary Methods

• Methods of diagnosis, surgical treatment, or therapeutic treatment applied to humans or animals.

5. Computer Programs

• Software and algorithms are expressly excluded.

6. Inventions Contrary to Public Order or Morality

• Any invention whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to health, safety, the environment, or public morals.

Regarding pharmaceutical products, in May 2012, the Argentine Patent Office together with the Ministries of Industry and Health issued Joint Regulation Nos. 118/2012, 546/2012 and 107/2012, which introduced new guidelines for examining chemical‑pharmaceutical patent applications. Published in the Official Gazette on May 8 and effective May 9, the regulation imposed strict limitations on what can be patented in the pharmaceutical field.

The rules exclude polymorphs, hydrates and solvates as they are considered natural properties of matter, and single enantiomers when the racemic mixture is already known, although inventive processes for obtaining them may be patentable. Markush claims are only accepted if supported by representative examples with full physicochemical data. Selection patents are not recognized as novel, and salts, esters, amides, complexes and other derivatives of known substances are treated as the same substance. Active metabolites are excluded because they are naturally produced in the body, and prodrugs must be fully supported and characterized in the specification. New formulations, compositions and preparation processes are generally deemed obvious, with exceptions only when they solve a long‑felt need in a non‑obvious way. Combinations of known active compounds, second medical uses and dosage regimes are treated as methods of treatment, which are excluded from patent protection. Additional data during prosecution is accepted only if it does not broaden the original disclosure, and manufacturing methods must be reproducible on an industrial scale.

Although formally presented as examination guidelines, in practice these rules function as binding provisions, significantly narrowing the scope of pharmaceutical patentability in Argentina.

In Argentina, software-related inventions are not patentable under current legislation. Article 6 of the Patent Law (Law No. 24,481, as amended by Decree No. 260/1996) explicitly excludes computer programs from the definition of inventions. Instead, software is protected under copyright law.

Pure software, algorithms, or code cannot be patented in Argentina. The alternative protection is under Copyright Law (Law No. 11,723), phich Protects software as a literary work, granting rights over reproduction, distribution, and adaptation.

Although standalone software is excluded, software-related inventions may be patentable if they form part of a broader technical solution. Examples include:

• Embedded software controlling a new machine or device.
• Software inseparably linked to a novel hardware invention.

In these cases, the invention is not the software itself, but the technical system or process that incorporates it.