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 …
The ability of developing and least-developed countries to procure affordable generic medicines continues to be hampered by a lack of transparency in patent information. While there has been an increase in electronic patent information since TRIPS, much more still needs be done.
This paper explores recent episodes in the field of biotechnology research as regards intellectual property rights. It argues that public research institutes develop schizophrenic intellectual property policies. On the one hand, they are aimed at combating poverty through the development of freely accessible knowledge and biotechnologies, but, on the other …
A rarely-used system intended to help poor countries import generic versions of patent-protected drugs was the main focus of discussions at the October session of the TRIPS Council. Developing countries also raised serious concerns over the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
The rapid deployment and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) is considered crucial for tackling the climate change challenge. In this context, the role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the transfer of climate change technologies has been particularly contentious in the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on …
There is no doubt US President Barack Obama was in India on a business trip. His recent electoral losses weighed heavily with him when he stitched up deals, reportedly worth US $10 billion,that would create about 50,000 jobs back home. In this editorial Sunita Narain looks at the ABCDE of …
There is no doubt US President Barack Obama was in India on a business trip. His recent electoral losses weighed heavily with him when he stitched up deals, reportedly worth US $10 billion, that would create about 50,000 jobs back home. His visit and the sweetener of support for India’s …
Rajasthan signs agreements with seven biotech companies to restructure agriculture. Read this special report on the fundamental shift in the way farming operates in India by giving private companies access to the state’s research facilities to test and market their hybrid seeds and other technologies. In an unprecedented step, Rajasthan …
Lobbying, as we now know, sets the agenda for practically everything that governs our lives. No policy is ever made without someone seeking to gain from the most innocuous of programmes and projects. Take something as simple as inoculations. Governments cannot even take a decision on inoculating children against some …
IN AN unprecedented step, Rajasthan has entered into memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with seven biotech seed firms, two of them among the largest in the world, to tone up its agriculture. It signals a fundamental shift in the way farming operates in India by giving private companies access to the …
In principle, generic pharma production could supply developing countries with all the drugs they need. In practice, matters are more difficult. Zafrullah Chowdhury shed light on this complex matter in an interview with Hans Dembowski.
Multinational pharma producers are based in rich nations and demand high prices, thus hampering supply of medicine to the developing world. Globally enforced patents serve to protect high prices. At the same time, few new medicines are being developed for the health problems that mostly affect poor countries. Today, even …
The marine realm represents 70% of the surface of the biosphere and contains a rich variety of organisms, including more than 34 of the 36 living phyla, some of which are only found in the oceans. The number of marine species used by humans is growing at unprecedented rates, including …
This Eid, Hyderabad was on a high—a haleem high. Haleem is a great dish, a rich broth of wheat, lentils and meat that the city feasts on during the month of Ramadan, and it hit the headlines because it had just been granted a geographical indication (GI) certificate. Newspapers went …
Piper betle L. is one of the important plants in the Asiatic region which ranks second to coffee and tea in terms of daily consumption. Though the plant is known for abuse, in recent years several reports have been pub- lished on the effects of the plant extract and chemical …
Thiruvananthapuram: The city-based Biotech Centre for Development of Biogas Technology and other Nonconventional Energy Sources has secured an Indian patent for a portable domestic biowaste treatment biogas plant developed by it. Unlike conventional biogas plants that require cattle dung as feedstock, the plant developed by Biotech can run on household …
SHAMNAD BASHEER & PRASHANT REDDY IN A MOVE WITH SIGNIFICANT RAMIFICAtions for policy-making and participatory democracy, the ministry of commerce recently threw open the issue of compulsory licensing for public debate. The move is a welcome one, as the compulsory licensing (CL) of patents is not just an esoteric intellectual …
