[Ip-health] Wall Street Journal: Novartis Case Furthers India Patent Debate

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

<SNIP>

Novartis said it is still appealing the actual rejection of the Gleevec
patent, an appeal that will be decided separately by India's
Intellectual Property Appellate Board.


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Novartis Case Furthers
India Patent Debate
By JEANNE WHALEN
August 7, 2007; Page A3

An Indian court rejected Novartis AG's attempt to change Indian law to
make it easier to patent drugs, a case that underscores the growing
tension between public-health interests and intellectual-property
rights.

Novartis said the ruling would discourage development of medicines in
India and abroad. Public-health activists applauded the court's
decision, saying it would help protect India's ability to make
inexpensive generics for the developing world. Charitable groups and
developing nations rely on India to supply cheaper versions of the
latest treatments for HIV and other diseases.

Until 2005, Indian law allowed domestic companies to sell copies of
drugs that were patented in the West as long as they changed how they
made the drugs. Then, in early 2005, India adopted a new patent law to
fulfill its obligations as a member of the WTO. The law lets drug
companies seek patents on medicines invented after 1995, or for new and
more efficacious versions of older drugs. When India rejected
Novartis's Gleevec patent filing, it argued that the version Novartis
wanted to patent wasn't that different from a version patented in 1993.

In a statement yesterday, Novartis said it disagreed with the court's
ruling but wasn't likely to appeal it. The company said it was awaiting
the full text of the decision.

Novartis said the court case had advanced debate about India's patent
laws. "Now local and international leaders in both industry and
academia recognize the inadequacies of [Indian law] and are raising
serious concerns about the deficiencies of the Indian patent system,"
Ranjit Shahani, vice chairman and managing director of Novartis in
India, said in the statement.

Groups such as Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam International had
criticized Novartis for filing the suit, leading to months of bad
publicity for Novartis. They argued that if Novartis were successful in
changing Indian law, drug companies would be able to patent meaningless
changes to drugs.

"This ruling is a lifeline for the millions of people who cannot afford
brand-name drugs, and ensures that essential medicines from India will
reach those who rely on them," Sandhya Venkateswaran, head of advocacy
for the aid agency CARE International in India, said in a statement
issued jointly with Oxfam and other groups.

Novartis said it is still appealing the actual rejection of the Gleevec
patent, an appeal that will be decided separately by India's
Intellectual Property Appellate Board.

--Peter Wonacott contributed to this article.

Write to Jeanne Whalen at jeanne.whalen@wsj.com1
   	URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118639978019889135.html

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org