[Ip-health] NGO asks govt to further amend Patent Act to avoid frivolous patent filings

[Gopa Kumar]

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NGO asks govt to further amend Patent Act to avoid frivolous patent filings
Thursday, September 03, 2009 08:00 IST
Ramesh Shankar, Mumbai

The National Working Group on Patent Law (NWGPL), an NGO working on patent
issues in the country has asked the government to further amend the Amended
Patent Act 1970 to avoid frivolous and questionable patent claims being
filed by the industry and are being granted by the Patent Offices.

In a letter to Union commerce minister Anand Sharma, the NGO said that there
are reports in the media that the stipulations in the Amended Patents Act
1970 are being misused. This misuse can be contained only if the Amended
Patent Act 1970 is further amended on the lines of the recommendations of
the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, both on
(a) patentability of pharmaceutical substances and (b) patentability of
micro-organisms.

Since the present Patents Act 1970 has been finally amended, there are
reports in the media, which is confirmed by informed sources, that the
stipulations in the Amended Patents Act 1970 are being misused. This is
mainly due to the fact that the scope of patentability of pharmaceutical
substances and of micro-organisms is vague and not specific. Consequently,
frivolous and questionable patent claims are being filed by the industry and
are being granted by the Patent Offices. This is a serious matter and calls
for an urgent action by the Government, the letter said.

The Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce in its
report submitted to the government had recommended that Article 27 of TRIPS
stipulates that patent shall be available for any inventions, whether
products or process. The terminology of patentable invention needs to be
defined, so that the frivolous claims are not filed. It would be appropriate
to define the invention as patentable basic invention. Similarly, the
patentable pharmaceutical product should be restricted only to new drug
molecules.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee had also recommended that the
government should take an early and unequivocal decision with regard to
patentability of micro-organisms per se or their specific activities. If
needed, necessary amendments should be expeditiously carried out in the
Patents Act.

The National Working Group on Patent Laws was established more than 20 years
ago in 1988 under the chairmanship of eminent scientist Dr Nitya Nand when
the Uruguay Round of GATT Negotiations was in the thick of negotiations. The
members comprise of legal experts, academicians and senior experts from
various NGOs. The Group established four People Commissions on Patent Law
issues. The first two Commissions were chaired by Justice V R Krishna Iyer
and other two were chaired by I K Gujral, former prime minister of India.