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 …
Uncontrolled medical treatment in Asia and Africa costs lives and money. David Peters and Gerald Bloom call for governments, firms and citizen groups to get involved.
Novartis patent case up for hearing this week; judgment to have far-reaching impact Mumbai/London: The Supreme Court will hear final arguments starting this week in a landmark case over drug patents that could change the rules for the country's healthcare sector and potentially curb its global role as a supplier …
14 New Drug Molecules Approved Between Jan & July 2012, Only 9 Tested: Azad New Delhi: Drugs continue to be approved in India without having undergone proper clinical trials on the local population. Just months after the parliamentary standing committee on health exposed how the country’s highest office on drugs— …
An inter-ministerial group tasked with regulating prices of patented medicines has recommended using a per capita income-linked reference pricing mechanism, a proposal that may reduce prices of several patented dugs by up to onethird but will hit the profitability of foreign companies. The committee, headed by an official from the …
The traditional knowledge (TK) of India’s people touches many lives within the country and outside it. For the holders of TK, it is their very lives and thus valuable as is. For others who don’t live by it, it has been priced – given a monetary value, be it by …
In a new report, a blue-ribbon panel decries India's systemic failure to capitalize on basic research findings. The report, released last week by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, offers a stinging indictment of India's scientific frailties, noting that science here is "severely hampered by oppressive bureaucratic practices and inflexible administrative and …
To most Indians, turmeric or haldi is a part of growing up, a magic cure-all for the excesses of childhood. A classic "grandmother's remedy", the virulent yellow powder or paste has been applied to the scrapes and cuts of generations of children. But in the US, two scientists were granted …
The very nature of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) poses serious challenges in patenting intellectual property. Unlike modern medicines, which are based on newly discovered, developed or isolated chemical compounds, TCM prescriptions typically consist of mixtures of well-known plant or animal extracts. Moreover, these recipes are public knowledge, having been recorded …
The biotechnology industry has had its share of woes, but so far 'patent trolls' have not numbered among them. These companies, which profit by legally enforcing patents they own rather than developing products, may benefit from a 31 August ruling at a US federal court of appeal in Washington DC.
The National Institute for Inter-disciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) is offering a technology for clear extraction of banana fibre on a non-exclusive basis. NIIST is an affiliate of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) based here. PATENT SOUGHT The indigenously developed process know-how is for ‘clean extraction of …
German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG has formally lodged a challenge against a landmark Indian ruling that allowed a domestic generic drug-maker to produce a low-cost version of an anti-cancer drug for the Indian market. The appeal was filed on Friday 4 May with India's Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
This paper reviews theoretical and empirical literature that originated predominantly during and after TRIPS, focusing on the influence of changes in patent protection on developing countries. Previous studies identify two channels of gain for developing countries, from strong patent rights. Firstly, the promotion channel whereby, patent rights affect innovativeness of …
In recent years, patenting has been considered one of the major drivers for enhancing national competitiveness and most of the advanced countries have been more actively enforcing patent protection. However, the indicators proposed in previous studies have not been able to deal adequately with the various dimensions of patenting, rather …
The present study tries to explore the factors that influence the growth, performance, and development of IPR attitude of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector of Punjab. The aim of the present research is to examine the technology management strategies of manufacturing SMEs, primarily on the basis …
The compulsory licence issued to Natco for manufacture of the anti-cancer drug Nexavar is a landmark decision on many grounds – the first one in India since the 2005 amendment to the 1970 Patents Act and the fi rst in the world issued to a private party. There are some …
Sustainable agriculture and healthy nutrition are high on the social agenda. Work is now being done to face both challenges, often with measurable success. However, huge changes are still needed and some problems have even been exacerbated. Although agriculture and nutrition are closely linked, both issues are often dealt with …
Independent India inherited a structure of landholdings characterised by heavy concentration of cultivable areas in the hands of relatively large absentee landowners, the excessive fragmentation of small landholdings, growing number of landless agricultural workers, and the lack of any generalised system of documentary evidence of landownership or tenancy.
