There are three ways to overcome the issues facing us in our anti-COVID fight Amidst exponential increase in demand for vaccination, Indian policy makers are looking for all possible options to ramp up supplies. A major hindrance in the way is the intellectual property rights (IPRs) associated with new drugs which are mostly discovered and developed by multinational pharmaceutical companies. For instance, Covishield was discovered and developed by Astra-Zeneca in collaboration with Oxford University; a license for its manufacture has been given to Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII). The most crucial of these rights relates to patent. The patent granted to an innovator company for a new drug gives a period of ‘market exclusivity’ during which no other firm can...
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Category: Patent
Fight against Covid – patent waiver alone won’t help
Amidst exponential increase in demand for vaccination, Indian policy makers are looking for all possible options to ramp up supplies. A major hindrance in the way is the intellectual property rights (IPRs) associated with new drugs which are mostly discovered and developed by multinational pharmaceutical companies. For instance, Covishield (it accounts for about 90% of doses administered in India so far) was discovered and developed by Astra-Zeneca in collaboration with Oxford University; a license for its manufacture has been given to Pune based Serum Institute of India (SII). The most crucial of these rights – incorporated in the TRIPs (trade related intellectual property rights) Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that came into force in 1995 requiring compliance by...
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Unshackle the GM seed innovator
Bhartiya Kisan Sangh [BKS] a farmers’ organization linked to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS] – an ideological front of the ruling BJP – has written to the Prime Minister, N Modi bringing to his attention to large-scale use of unapproved genetically modified [GM] new seeds and their deleterious impact on crop, soil and the environment. They have called for punitive action against companies which are making these seeds available to farmers. The reference in the association’s complaint is purportedly to the presence of Cry1Ac gene [besides more alien pest-protecting genes] in brinjals taken from a farmers’ field in a village in Fatehabad district of Haryana. Cry1Ac gene is a protein produced from insertion of soil bacterium, bacillus thuringensis [Bt] into the...
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Bridge the gap on patent rights
It’s unfortunate that the USTR, the US trade body, has put India on a ‘priority watch list’ for intellectual property rights violations. For now, the rift appears too wide and requires adjustments by both sides. Protection of IP rights isn’t always inimical to public interest The US Trade Representative (USTR) has placed India on its Priority Watch List (PWL), alleging lack of “sufficient measurable improvements” to its Intellectual Property (IP) framework on long-standing and new challenges that have negatively affected American right holders. It has warned of enforcement actions under Section 301 of the Trade Act or pursuant to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or other trade agreement dispute settlement procedures, necessary to combat unfair trade practices. The long-standing IP challenges facing...
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IPRs – what prompts US see India as violator
The US Trade Representative [USTR] has placed India on its Priority Watch List [PWL] [besides 10 other countries, including China, Indonesia, Russia etc] alleging lack of “sufficient measurable improvements” to its intellectual property [IP] framework on long-standing and new challenges that have negatively affected American right holders over the past year. The USTR acknowledges that over the past year, India took steps to address intellectual property challenges and promote IP protection and enforcement, but laments that many of the actions have not yet translated into concrete benefits for innovators and creators, and long-standing deficiencies persist. The countries on the PWL for multiple years [India being one of them] will be the subject of increased bilateral engagement with the USTR to ...
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Innovation is not exploitation
Controls on GM crops will curb access to new solutions needed to tackle climate change. Our farmers will be the biggest losers Bt cotton, the only Genetically Modified (GM) crop so far allowed for cultivation in India, is genetically tweaked to kill bollworms that ravage cotton crops. It promises substantial increase in return by saving on pesticide use and increase in crop yield. At the price paid for Bt cotton seed, including technology fee paid to biotech major Monsanto, farmers get handsome returns. Since its introduction, the use of Bt cotton in India has increased manifold with the area under coverage, leap-frogging from a mere 50,000 hectare to around 12 million hectare, covering major States such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh...
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GM seeds – controls block access to new solutions
Bt [Bacillus thuringiensis] cotton – the only genetically modified [GM] crop so far allowed for cultivation by farmers in India – is genetically tweaked to kill bollworms that ravage cotton crops. It promises substantial increase in return by saving on pesticide use and increase in crop yield. At the price paid for Bt cotton seed including technology fee [this is less than what the innovator viz. Monsanto charges even in China], farmers get handsome returns. Since, introduction [2002] the use of Bt cotton in India has increased manifold with area under coverage leapfrogging from a mere 50,000 hectare then to around 12 million hectare covering major states such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. At present, 98 per cent of...
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Bt cotton – unapproved in, approved out
It is ironical that despite prime minister, N Modi’s exhortation to stakeholders for embracing new technology in all spheres of economic activity for accelerating growth, at the ground level, the innovators face huge resistance from the very institutions which are expected to provide a supportive environment. The introduction of genetically modified [GM] crops provides a classic example of how the administrative authorities, regulatory bodies and the institution of judiciary have orchestrated a game-plan to throttle attempts to bring in new technologies that hold huge potential for increasing agricultural productivity and farmers’ income. Bt [Bacillus thuringiensis] cotton [the only GM crop so far allowed for cultivation by farmers in India] is genetically tweaked to kill bollworms that ravage cotton crops. It...
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Invalidation of Monsanto patent – setback to agri-biotech innovations
A Division Bench [DB] of Delhi High Court [DHC] on April 11, 2018 invalidated a patent granted to Monsanto Technology LLC for its invention related to the gene sequence responsible for the Bt [Bacillus thuringiensis] trait that eradicate pests afflicting cotton plants. As per the Court, the gene sequence has been held to be a part of the seed, and hence un-patentable in terms of Section 3(j) of the Patents [Amendment] Act, 2005 that excludes higher life forms, like plants, animals, and their parts and essential biological processes from the realm of patentability. The DB has held that Section 3(j) prohibits grant of patents to Bt trait-induced varieties as they are parts of “seed”. The Court has held that the...
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IPR protection – why India ranks poorly?
According to the annual report prepared by the Global Innovation Policy Centre [GIPC] of the US Chambers of Commerce, India has increased its score in the International Intellectual Property [IIP] Index, from 25 per cent [8.75 out of 35] in the 5th edition of the Index to 30 per cent [12.03 out of 40] in the 6th edition. India now ranks 44th among 50 nations up from 43rd out of 45 countries last year. The report analyses the intellectual property [IP] climate in 50 world economies based on 40 unique indicators that benchmark activity critical to innovation development surrounding patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secrets protection. The improvement in the score reflects positive reform efforts on patentability of computer-implemented inventions [in July...
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