India IP News
India is stamping its feet now
India’s Intellectual Property Appellate Board (Ipab ) recently rejected a patent application for blood cancer drug Glivec (crystalline imatinib mesylate) from Swiss drug maker Novartis citing a provision under which a patent is granted only if a product is more efficacious than existing drug molecules. It was a long drawn out fight for Novartis, as it had filed the patent in Chennai as early as 1999 and was granted an exclusive marketing right (EMR) in 2003. However, things got complicated after India enacted a new set of patent laws in 2005, which granted local pharmaceuticals firms to manufacture generics as a way to encourage the local medical drug industry.
As a result of the Ipab decision, Novatis is seeking clarification as to what constitutes ‘efficacy’ since it is the patent holder in forty over countries including Brazil, China and Russia. Up to now, Indian pharmaceutical companies are only making the generics and surely it can not be better than the original! It was also reported that Novartis is considering filing a complaint at the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) forum of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to seek redress. It would also file its case in an Indian High court just so to test how well the decision by Ipab can stand. In delivering its objection to the granting of the disputed patent, Ipab also sited non-compatibility with the country’s patent law and unaffordable pricing.
July 7, 2009
This Nano is coming to the nearest showroom near you.
Well, with the possibility of gasoline touching $150 again soon, all eyes are on the Nano, the Indian designed mini car that is said to break new barriers. Presently, it is only available in India, but the maker, Tata Industries, wants to flood it trough out the world. Maybe its time has come, but before it can travel to other shores, much work needs to be done.
One of the most critical aspects of the car is its crash worthiness, so it needs to get the crash test certification approvals needed for markets like Europe and the United States. Fortunately, it has passed the European impact testing for both side and offset front. Further testing will be done to meet the standards of European NCAP tests, and also the Indian NHTSA requirements. When all is done, you can bet that it will be seen in the showroom nearest you. That will be early 2010 and it will cost only $25000 only!
July 17, 2009.
India to file complaint with WTO because……
it has been facing the problem of having its pharmaceutical goods confiscated at European ports while being shipped to South American destinations. There have been complaints from EU pharmaceutical giants about the large amount of Indian made generic drugs being sold to the South American countries. Most of these drugs were used to treat diseases like schizophrenia, AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and heart conditions. Among the companies that made complaints were Eli Lilly & Co., Novartis AG, and Sanofi-Aventis SA. It was, according to India, a good cause for being able to help the many destitute people in the developing world that can’t afford to buy life saving drugs. But of course the EU countries were protesting vigorously, stressing their view that these generics had infringed on their patents. Rajeev Kher, joint secretary of commerce for India, will be filing the complaint with WTO later on.
From India’s point of view, the confiscation of the medicines on transit at EU ports was a flagrant violation of international trade laws. They had argued that it is illegal to detain the goods as they were not intended for sale to EU countries. How does it constitute as an infringement then, as patents are suppose to protect the holders if there are others selling the product illegally in the territory that grants the patent? As an interim measure, Indian shippers are now redirecting their exports through other ports, even though it cost more to do so. It is estimated that the world’s total trade in generics and fake drugs amounted to $500 billion annually. Another country, China, is watching the suit closely, as it is also eyeing to get a piece of the lucrative pie.
Sourced from The Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2009.
Ever tried stopping others from stealing your patent?
If you were to find that someone else is stealing your idea, it goes without saying that your temperature will shoot up the roof, right? But it is usually of not much use because once that somebody gets to file the patent, it is as good as gone. All your pleadings in front of the patent office to object to the grant will not make any good. Even if you have all the proof that you were the one who got the idea first. Unless you are like India of course!
How is it you might ask? Well, recently (July 2008), a Spanish company (Perdix Group SL) tried to file a patent with the European Patent Office for a herbal concoction that cures vitiligo, a chronic disorder that causes discoloring of the skin. The EPO granted them the patent on July 8, 2009. India came to know about it and got furious because it was a rip off. In the annals of India, registered as an entry in their Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), there are a few hundred thousand Ayuverda (herbal) formulas, some of them known to be able to cure Vitiligo! India vehemently protested, and fortunately, the EPO gave a listen and agreed to cancel the intent to grant a patent on July 27, 2009! Yes, battle number one is won by India, but for how long?
October2, 2009.
Indian Patent court updates.
The Indian Patent office has proposed a pool of competent patent practitioners to give advice to the Indian judiciary. This is to help court judges to fully understand the technical aspects of contending cases brought to the circuit courts for deliberation. There have been a number of cases lately that the judges have erred in their judgments and some with their judgments deferred and overthrown. There were a few occasions with regards to technically complicated cases where the judges asked for patent examiners opinion. Most prominent were pharmaceutical cases that required good technical understanding of chemical processes. There is however a ruling amendment to the Indian Patent Law 2003 (rule 103) which recommended a roster of advisors to help out the courts but has so far not being implemented.
October 10, 2009.
India’s lost is China’s gain
One of the big pharma company, Norvatis, of Switzerland, had made a commitment in 2006 to build a $ 125 million R & D center in Hyderabad, but had to renege on its promise due to “poor intellectual property protection law” in India. In a recent court case, Novartis lost its court case with its Gleevec patent and had been frustrated with the law in India. This time around, it is shifting its R & D center to China and is reported to be building a $ 1.25 billion center there. Still, it is not completely abandoning its presence in India as there is a large pool of medical researchers there which might speed up work on new medications.
November 19, 2009.
Global trademark registration for India
The Indian parliament also known as Lok Sabha has just approved the Trade Marks (amendment) Bill 2009, where under the new regime, filing of trademarks can be done in India in a single application with enforcement in other countries that under the Madrid Protocol. The period of approval for trademark registrations is within eighteen months. With this act, filers of trademark in India will get to save cost by not needing to file the same trademark in other countries. In a like wise reciprocity, India will now allowed enforcement of trademarks filed in other countries that are align to the same Madrid protocol.
December 23, 2009
Indian Patent Office appointed as ISA and IPEA
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has appointed the Indian Patent Office as International Searching Authority (ISA) under the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) structure. It has also been appointed as an International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA). In doing so, India has joined the club comprising other countries like Australia, Japan, Korea, China, Canada, EU patent office, Spain, Finland, Sweden, US and Russia. Under the PCT treaty, patents filed in each member country will be accorded priority status when it is filed in another member country and searches can be done in any of the country accorded the ISA status, thus reducing the cost of international filings.
January 03, 2010.
Getting on the watch list of 301
So there is piracy and more piracy of audio-visual files all over the places, particularly in countries like India, China, Argentina, Russia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Philippines and even Canada! Well, there are other countries as well, but these are the ones that have been sited by the International Intellectual Property Alliance’s (IIPA) as serious offenders. Eric H. Smith, a member of IIPA has urged the US government to take appropriate action against these states, saying that the US audio movie industry, which collectively earned the US 126 billion dollars in 2009, will be aversely affected by piracy and will loose jobs to other countries. The US tabulates a list of offending countries in their “special 301” compilation which is updated every year. India made the list this year because of rampant violation of copyrights of audio-visual files, many offloaded from the internet.
February 23, 2010.
A note from the Controller General of Indian IPs
India's Controller General of Patents, Design & Trade Marks, P H Kurian said that about 70,000 patent application backlogs and it might take a long time to grant a patent under the Intellectual Property Rights Act in India for Patent offices as it would require more examiners to clear the workload. In a recent move to expedite the processing of Indain IPs, Kurian also overhauled the system to allocate patents to examiners that are knowledgeable in the fields concerned. He had earlier also ordered a strict screening of the classifications of Indian patents in compliance with International Patent Classification (IPC), whilst reminding patent attorney’s submissions to hold a higher standard of professionalism.
March 1, 2010.
Small step to help Indian SMEs
Indian small and medium scale enterprises are poor contributors of intellectual properties (IP) to the state economy, mainly because they are scattered throughout the country and due to lack of facilities and understandings of IP filings. Entrepreneurs of these categories of industries often treat IP matters as of no importance. Fortunately, although be lately, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is establishing a string of IP Facilitation Centers all over India specifically to help Indian SMEs to better understand the benefits of having IPs in their organizations. Together with the Union Ministry of micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), FICCI will assist small entrepreneurs to create and file IPs, with the hope that they will increase the value of their asset base.
April 22, 2010.
In confrontation
Wearied at the prospect of what ACTA can do damage to the rest of the emerging economies, India, together with Brazil, China, and South Africa will form an alliance to put pressure to limit the power of the US and some advance economies in their interpretation of intellectual property rights. There has been concern for India as more and more of its good shipments of generic drugs is been waylaid at ports in Europe. Complaints to the WTO by India has not received any positive response what so ever. The threat of more illegal confiscation of shipments meant for South American countries is affecting India’s exports of generic drugs. With major pharmaceutical patents nearing its protection period, India would like to take the opportunity to fill the gap with the many generic versions made at home.
June 4, 2010
Yoga Patents
The United States Patent office has granted about 3000 yoga postures and their variations. But how could it be? We all know that yoga originates from India and had been practiced for thousand of years. It is obviously stealing and to think that the USPTO does not know about history is absurd! Nevertheless, India together with other countries has objected to the granting of yoga patents in other countries. In order to put the records straight, India has begun to record her indigenous practices in a log archive called Traditional Knowledge Library (TKDL). Work began in 2006 and to date there are about 900 asanas (postures and positions) that have been collected for recording. Besides yoga, other traditional treatment therapy knowledge is also being recorded.
June9, 2010.
India US access barriers
India has asked the US to look into the continuing black listing of Indian agencies like Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) where export controls of strategic materials have been enforced. This is despite the US and India having signed a strategic partnership agreement earlier in the year. Anand Sharma, the Indian Commerce and Industry Minister, had raised the issue with US Trade Representative Ron Kirk in a recent meeting. Among the many issues that were raised was the removal of India from the Special 301 watch list, market access issues, H-1B visas for Indians, double taxation and labour related non-tariff barriers. On the US side, issues like agricultural market access barriers, intellectual property rights and investment caps have been put forward to India for redressing.
June 21, 2010.