[Ip-health] [DNA India] Experts, Left trash report by Mashelkar

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Experts, Left trash report by Mashelkar
Kay Benedict
Thursday, February 22, 2007  22:21 IST

NEW DELHI: Experts on patent laws, bio-technology, food security and the Le=
ft parties on Thursday trashed the RA Mashelkar committee report on Patent =
Law and urged the UPA government to set up a new committee amidst reports t=
hat the Mashelkar report is "plagiarised" and comprised the interests of mu=
ltinational corporations.
The committee had inter alia recommended drastic widening of the scope of p=
atentability in India.

The experts called for the exclusion of "micro-organisms" from patentabilit=
y and change of definition of "pharmaceutical substance".

Mashelkar, stung by the charges of plagiarism, has himself decided to withd=
raw the controversial report. As many as two dozen experts and the CPI (M) =
and the CPI demanded discussion of the Patents amendment bill. CPI (M) plit=
buro member Nilotpal Basu and CPI secretary D. Raja termed the "plagiarized=
" report "shocking and a national shame and embarrassment."

The CPI (M) said several conclusions in the report were "verbatim reproduct=
ion" of a paper financially supported by major US, European and Japanese ph=
arma companies. "Many conclusions in the (Mashelkar) report are verbatim re=
production of a research paper prepared under a project supported by Interp=
at, a Swiss association of major European, Japanese and US based pharmaceut=
ical companies," the CPI (M) said.

SP Shukla, Prof Ashok Parthasarathi, BK Keayla, all from the National Worki=
ng Group on Patent Laws, Dr. Devinder Sharma from the Forum of Biotechnolog=
y and Food Security, KM Gopakumar of Centre for Trade and Development, Dine=
sh Abrol of CSIR Scientific Wrokers Association, Dr. Amit Sen Gupta of Delh=
i Science Forum, Dr. Mira

Shiva, All India Drug Action Network and Dr. Vandana Shiva of Navdanya issu=
ed a joint statement on Thursday slamming Mashelkar for his report.

The politburo also demanded steps to constitute another expert committee co=
mprising "people with intellectual integrity and committed to uphold the co=
mmon people's interests." Mashelkar, former head of Council of Scientific a=
nd Industrial Research, had recently written to the commerce ministry to al=
low the committee to "withdraw the report, re-examine it and resubmit a rep=
ort, which meets with the requirements of the highest standards."
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