[Ip-health] Indian Patent Act to Be Amended

[Mike Palmedo]

http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13333737

Patent act to be amended

Friday, 12 December, 2003
UNI

The country will further amend its Patent Act of 1970 to provide
'process and product patent' protection to domestic pharmaceutical and
chemical products to ensure the availability of drugs at affordable
prices to the common man before the TRIPS agreement of the WTO comes
into effect on January 1, 2005.

The amended Act will contain provisions for grant of compulsory license
and revocation of patents if the reasonable requirements of the public
have not been satisfied or patent invention is not available to the
public at an affordable price, Minister of State for Commerce and
Industry S B Mookherjee informed the Lok Sabha .

<snip>

Several opposition members wanted to know what was the government policy
to ensure supply of cheaper life-saving drugs to the poor people after
the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement that would restrict Indian
pharmaceutical sector to the manufacture of non-patented drugs only.

The multinational drug companies are holding a majority of process and
product patents and also have enormous Research and Development (R and
D) capacity, leaving a little scope of competition for Indian players,
they pointed out. The MNCs are selling their products at higher prices
and earning big profit margins, they added.

The Minister said the amended law would also take care of the fact that
India has a good drug manufacturing base and could export the medicines
to the developing countries.

India, as a developing country, can delay the application of the
provisions on product patent under TRIPS Agreement till January 1, 2005,
to areas of technology not so protectable in the country on January 1,
2000, he added.