[Ip-health] Reuters: Chennai court rejects Novartis patent challenge

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  http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-28840920070806

  CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - An Indian court rejected on Monday a challenge=
 by Swiss drug firm Novartis to Indian law that denied patents for minor im=
provements to known drugs.
  The court in Chennai rejected the challenge saying it had no jurisdiction=
 on whether Indian patent laws complied with intellectual property rules se=
t by the WTO, as Novartis had questioned.

  A Novartis spokeswoman said the firm would make a statement soon.

  Novartis has said that the Indian patent system stifles innovation. Criti=
cs of Novartis say changes to the law would affect the supply of affordable=
 anti-AIDS drugs from India, one of the biggest makers of generic drugs.

  Novartis had gone to the Madras High Court in Chennai against a law that =
blocks the patenting of minor improvements in known molecules.

  The Swiss pharmaceutical firm argues that a tightening of intellectual pr=
operty laws would increase investment for developing more drugs.

  India is a key source of cheap generic medicines, and advocacy groups wor=
ry that millions of poor people could lose access to key drugs if Novartis =
succeeds in its challenge.
  Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said in April that the government was "=
very concerned" that the challenge by Novartis could restrict the global su=
pply of cheap anti-AIDS drugs.

  India is home to the world's third largest population living with HIV aft=
er South Africa and Nigeria, with an estimated 2.5 million infected people.

  (Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New Delhi)