The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the United States India Business Council are miffed over the recent Novartis judgment of the Supreme Court (SC) of India. For us, however, this ruling on the question of the patentability of the beta crystalline form of Imatinib Mesylate (IM) is one of the most significant verdicts on patent law in independent India. That it has come at a time when the pharmaceutical industry is once again tending towards tight “oligopolisation” and high prices, which was the case before 1972 when the country had pharmaceutical product patent protection, is all the more welcome. (Editorial)