[Ip-health] Novartis case may not reach WTO!

[Hafiz Aziz-ur- Rehman]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Novartis case may not reach WTO

  Gaurav Choudhury, Hindustan Times

  New Delhi, August 08, 2007
    First Published: 02:01 IST(8/8/2007)
  Last Updated: 02:10 IST(8/8/2007)


  Union commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday said India=92s=
 patent laws were in conformity with the intellectual property rules laid d=
own by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
  "Our patent laws are WTO compliant. It is only one company that has raise=
d its voice. In the last two years, since Indian patent laws became WTO (Wo=
rld Trade Organisation) compliant, no one has ever made any complaint," Nat=
h told reporters.
  Nath=92s remarks came a day after the Madras High Court dismissed a petit=
ion filed by Swiss pharmaceutical major Novartis challenging the constituti=
onal validity of a certain section of the Indian Patents Act, which prevent=
s patenting of minor modifications to products and processes.
  Novartis had approached the Madras High Court after its patent applicatio=
n on its cancer drug Glivec was rejected by the patent office.
  Nath, who signed a pact with the Swiss government for cooperation in prot=
ecting and promoting intellectual property, said India respects intellectua=
l property and does not allow counterfeiting.
  The Swiss government indicated that it was unlikely to take the Novartis =
issue to the WTO disputes settlement body.
  =93We have to accept the settlement and the Swiss government never engage=
s itself or questions any judicial announcements. This is a case with only =
one company," said Doris Leuthard, federal councillor, Department of Econom=
ic Affairs, Swiss Confederation. =93We should have a reliable TRIPS (trade-=
related intellectual property rights) system in the WTO,=94 Leuthard said.
  She, however, said Swiss companies would be watching the development clos=
ely but added that she could not predict the impact of the ruling on invest=
ment plans by Swiss firms in India
  Nath also indicated that the government could announce a new incentive pa=
ckage for the beleaguered export sector in the wake of the rising rupee. Th=
e commerce ministry has constituted a team to examine the impact of the str=
engthening rupee on exports.


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