[Pharm-policy] Economic Times: India may follow Brazil Patent Law

[love@cptech.org]

http://www.economictimes.com/today/08econ01.htm    

  Sunday Jul 08 2001 | Updated 0022 hrs IST 1352 EST 
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India may follow Brazil patent law
Gauri Kamath 
MUMBAI 
THE UNITED States’ decision to drop a suit in the World Trade
Organisation challenging a provision in Brazil’s patent law is being
interpreted by a section of the Indian industry as the opportunity to
model India’s patent law along that of Brazil. 

The US Trade Representative dropped a case late last month challenging a
provision of the Brazilian law that says a patented innovation should be
locally manufactured within three years of the patent being granted or
else the innovation becomes subject to compulsory licensing provisions. 

  [snip]

``We believe the US is getting increasingly isolated in its fight
against strict compulsory licensing. 

Given the prevailing environment, it would’ve lost the case and that
would’ve set a precedent in the WTO for other countries that are in the
process of framing their law,’’ said D G Shah, secretary general, Indian
Pharmaceutical Alliance, a lobby group of top Indian pharmaceutical
companies. 

Shah added that though the “bilateral mechanism” that USTR now talked of
with Brazil to resolve the issue would allow the US to put far more
pressure on Brazil, India could still feel free to draft strict
compulsory licensing norms. 

``If the US takes India to the WTO for similar provisions the results
are not likely to be very different,’’ said Shah. 

In India, a joint parliamentary committee is in the process of drafting
recommendations to the second amendment to the Patents Law which will
introduce product patents from 2005. 

The JPC is expected to table its report in the Parliament in mid-August. 

The interpretation of TRIPS keeping in mind countries’ right to provide
affordable medicines to its people has increasingly become an area of
concern for governments.