The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, has introduced draft amendments to the Patents Rules, 2003. These drafts detail various changes proposed by the Central Government, anchored on section 159 of the Patents Act, 1970. The government seeks to amend the …
Justice S Ravinder Bhat of the Delhi High Court is a hero to some. His decision last month to allow generic drug manufacturer Cipla to continue manufacturing its version of Roche's patented lung cancer drug erlotinib (sold as Tarceva in India) has made him the toast of public health activists …
Novartis India is up in arms against a two-month old decision of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to reduce the price of its flagship brand Voveran on public interest grounds. The annual sales of Voveran, the brand name for pain reliever medicine diclofenac, exceed Rs 100 crore and account …
The battles lines in the power struggle over seeds are shifting in Europe. Authorities are dropping plans to push US-led "first generation' genetically modified organisms (GMOs), so that European companies can develop "covert' GMOs and new "double-locked' seeds instead. In 2008, the Sarkozy regime will use the French presidency of …
The Union Ministry of Science and Technology is forcing through a controversial act which seeks to regulate rights over government-funded research. Many feel that Public Funded R&D; (Protection, Utilization and Regulation of Intellectual Property) Bill, 2007, will benefit the private sector more than the public. The ministry feels the benefits …
DEBATE Eventually, the debate boils down to whether removing patent rights will lead to lower R&D; in diseases that are important for patients in developing economies. Ranjit Shahani Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Novartis India Limited If people don't get a fair return in innovation, they won't invest in finding new …
India must document and legally protect the farmers' varieties (FVs) and use them globally as a trade strategy. The FVs therefore can be equated with the prior art provision of The Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005. Providing necessary legal framework will ensure that already known FVs are not encroached as
A Delhi High Court interim order given last week can totally alter the patent regime in the country for life-saving drugs. The court allowed Cipla to market Erlontinib , a medicine for lung cancer, though the Indian patent on the drug, Tarceva, is held by Roche of Switzerland. The court …
358 of 413 drug patent applications for the disease in India are from top multinationals. The recent legal reverses suffered by multinational majors Novartis and Roche over patents for cancer medicine could be the tip of a huge iceberg. A city-based policy research group has found that multinational drug firms …
The Union government is likely to enact a law to create uniform legal framework for government-funded research and give universities and research institutions ownership and patent rights for their innovations. The matter is before the Cabinet and will shortly be moved to Parliament for approval, according to a source close …
THE second part of Frontline's interview with David Baltimore, the reputed American biologist and Nobel laureate, includes a discussion on a wide range of issues including his own research; funding in health-related research and development; the "moral conundrum' of high investments in product development by drug companies versus making drugs …
Thailand's new government will override international patents on three cancer drugs, Chaiya Sasomsap, the new health minister said yesterday, after a month of protests against his review of the policy. Mr Chaiya said declaring compulsory licences on the drugs would save Thailand more than Bt3bn ($95m,
a patent dispute between pharma companies over a migrane drug in the us market has been settled out of court. Ranbaxy, one of the world's largest producers of generic drugs, announced through a press release on January 21 an out-of-court settlement with international pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (gsk) over the migrane …
If the number of patent applications filed under the World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is any indication, India appears to be a laggard among the knowledge- and innovation-driven economies. That the country is way behind developed nations like the US and Japan in seeking patent safeguards …
Mumbai-based Sun Pharmaceuticals has filed a post-grant opposition with the Mumbai patent office against a product patent granted to the extended release version of Johnson and Johnson's (J&J;) blockbuster drug Risperdal, used in the treatment of psychological disorders and schizophrenia. Risperdal, with the molecular name risperidone, is the second-largest selling …
Even as India is fast turning into the diabetes capital of the world, multinational drug companies are busy patenting new-generation diabetes medicines for exclusive marketing rights in the country. The Indian Patent Office has already awarded patents to at least three such products, say patent experts. Though the immediate impact …
India has performed poorly in international patent filings last year compared to its neighbour China, according to data released by the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Filing patent applications under WIPO's Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) enables companies to secure patent protection in various countries. It is a measure for …
The Biotechnology Industry Association (BIA), the representative body of international biotech product makers, has expressed concern over the patent criteria norms prescribed under the Indian Patent Act. In a representation to the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on February 11, the association has demanded that India be kept …
The government must encourage the manufacture of cheaper drugs which will benefit the consumer. Till the early 1980's, dominant foreign companies dominated pharmaceutical manufacturing in India. Today the dominant ones are Indian owned. The then Indian patent laws helped this transformation. Until recently India recognised only process patents. Reverse engineering …
When pharmaceutical company Novartis challenged the rejection of its patent application for the leukemia drug Gleevec in Novartis AG v. Union of India, it became the first major legal challenge to India’s newly amended patent law. In 2005, India purportedly made the final changes required to bring its intellectual property …
