[Ip-health] Update: Indian Parliament approves Patents Bill

[Ram]

After getting the clearance at the Lok Sabha yesterday, today the
Rajya Sabha, Indian Parliament=B4s Upper House, has approved the Patents
Bill- Ram


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Parliament approves Patents Bill

New Delhi: The Parliament on Wednesday approved the crucial Patents
(Amendment) Bill to introduce product patent in drugs and agri
products after Rajya Sabha passed the legislation amidst walkout by
BJP-led NDA.
The House negatived the resolution to disapprove the Patents
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2004 and the amendments moved by BJP member
Yashwant Sinha.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, in his reply to the debate,
assured the House that prices of medicines would not go up as a result
of introduction of product patents.

He said as per estimates of the drug controller, out of 195 drugs, 185
were pre-1995 drugs and were out of the gambit of the patent regime.

Nath said even the rest would not be moved for patents immediately and
it would take at least three years to get these patented after
procedures are completed.

Opposition leader Jaswant Singh said the government has not
satisfactorily replied to points raised by them through amendments and
led the NDA boycott.