Biotechnology Patents in Argentina: INPI Repeals the Restrictive Guidelines Issued in 2015

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19 de June de 2026

On 19 de June de 2026

INPI Resolution No. 197/2026 repealed INPI Resolution No. 283/2015 and amended the Patentability Guidelines applicable to living matter and natural substances. This change may affect pending patent applications and new protection strategies for biotechnological inventions in Argentina.

On June 19, 2026, INPI Resolution No. 197/2026 was published in the Official Gazette, repealing INPI Resolution No. 283/2015. The resolution entered into force on the same date of its publication and amended the Patentability Guidelines applicable to living matter and natural substances, restoring the wording that had been in place prior to the amendments introduced in 2015.

Resolution No. 283/2015 had introduced specific and restrictive criteria for the examination of patent applications involving biotechnological inventions. Its repeal represents a relevant change in the framework for the protection of these types of developments in Argentina.

However, Resolution No. 197/2026 does not eliminate the legal exclusions currently in force: plants and animals, even if genetically modified, as well as essentially biological processes for their reproduction, production, or obtainment, remain excluded from patent protection.

This change may have a practical impact on protection strategies for biotechnological inventions, particularly in areas such as agricultural biotechnology, gene-editing technologies, RNA-based developments, biopharma, and other biotechnology-based developments.

In this context, applicants with pending patent applications, or those evaluating the protection of biotechnological developments in Argentina, should review:

pending applications that may have received objections based on the criteria introduced by Resolution No. 283/2015;
the drafting and scope of claims in applications involving living matter, natural substances, or biological material;
new patent filings related to biotechnological technologies;
potential impacts on innovation portfolios in agrobiotechnology, biopharma, scientific research, and technology transfer.

Resolution No. 197/2026 also establishes a limited exception for good-faith third parties that, as of the date the resolution entered into force, were marketing in the local market products covered by pending applications that are ultimately granted as a result of this repeal. In such cases, the patent owner may not request compensation or prevent the continued commercialization of those products.

The repeal of the restrictive guidelines issued in 2015 opens a new stage for the analysis of patentability of biotechnological inventions in Argentina. Although Resolution No. 197/2026 does not amend the exclusions provided by law, it does establish a broader examination framework for developments that require a technical case-by-case assessment.

In this context, the concrete impact of the measure will depend on how the new criteria are applied in the examination of pending applications and in the definition of future patenting strategies for biotechnological developments.