[A2k] Novartis' defeat in India's High Court

[Carolina Almeida Antunes Rossini]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
 *Note of the Working Group on Intellectual Property (GTPI) of the Brazilian
Network for the Integration of Peoples (Rebrip) on Novartis' defeat in
India's High Court*

For more information contact: Renata Reis <renata@abiaids.org.br>

The Working Group on Intellectual Property of the Brazilian Network for the
Integration of Peoples (GTPI/Rebrip) would like to publicly express its
satisfaction with the Indian government's legal and political victory over
the pharmaceutical company, NOVARTIS.  We would like to congratulate, above
all, Indian civil society groups who were highly involved in this case.

The lawsuit the company submitted to the High Court of Chennai demanded the
revocation of a provision in the Indian Patent Act that restricts some
possibilities for patenting medicines. This provision only allows the State
to grant patents for real innovations. Novartis' loss in this case
represents an important victory for public health and for the movements that
fight for access to essential medicines. It also puts a necessary halt to
transnational pharmaceutical companies' advances and influence on internal
legislation of developing countries.

Expanding possibilities to grant new patents for medicines already
protected, such as the awarding of patents for new forms or second use,
poses a risk for public health, as it would unjustifiably extend the period
of monopoly of a patent holder over technologies that are of great interest
to society.

We would like to denounce the fact that these measures have been supported
by national patent offices, as is the case in Brazil. Currently, the
Brazilian Patent Office's (INPI) internal guidelines for evaluating
pharmaceutical patents are very broad and go against public health and the
Brazilian patent law. When we look on rights and public interest, government
bodies may only do what the law specifically authorizes them to do, which is
not what is happening in the INPI . We believe that the Indian provision
must be seen as an example and model to improve the legislations of
developing countries, such as Brazil.

We hope that Novartis' defeat in the Indian Court will persuade legislators
and in national patent offices to grant protections for only real
innovations. Finally, we would like to express our belief in social control
and in the freedom of developing countries to implement measures aiming to
protect the health, safety and independence of their people. The victory of
Indian civil society is a victory for all those who fight for access to
essential medicines.