In Argentina, 951 pharmaceutical patents were granted in 2000-2007; in Brazil, 278 patents were granted in 2003-2008; in Colombia 439, in 2004-2008; in India, 2347, in 2005-2008; and in South Africa, 2442 patents were registered in 2008. Although the periods covered in each country are not the same - and the comparability of the data is thereby limited- some interesting conclusions may be drawn from the analysis of these data and the national patent regimes under which patents are issued.
It should be noted that while Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and India grant patents based on a prior substantive examination of the applications, in South Africa patents are simply registered without verifying a priori if they meet or not the patentability requirements. This explains why South Africa appears with such a comparatively large number of patents issued in one single year.