Category: Patent

On May 18, 2016, the agriculture ministry issued an order that makes it mandatory for the GM [genetically modified] technology provider to license the technology to any seed company that approaches it. If the former does not give the license in 30 days, it is ‘deemed to have been given’ and the latter can use. At the same time, the order also makes it mandatory for the seed company to pay the trait license fee or royalty to the technology provider. Further, it caps the maximum royalty at 10% of the maximum retail price [MRP] for the first 5 years to be reduced by 10% from 6th year. It prescribes a 10-year life for every GM trait which implies that...

India has time and again reiterated that it is in full compliance with its obligations under the multilateral agreement on trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) of the World Trade Organization [WTO]. At another extreme, the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) argues with equal alacrity that there has been substantial deterioration in our intellectual property rights [IPR] regime. USTR has placed it under Priority Watch List [PWL] for two years in a row [2014 & 2015] under the Special 301 report on trade and industry practices. Meanwhile, US based multinational companies [MNCs] in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and agrochemical segments who invest billions of dollars in discovery and development of new products are putting pressure on USTR to continue India...

Modi’s exhortation on international fora Interacting with America’s top CEOs [including US based multinationals in pharmaceutical and agrochemical space] in September, 2015, Prime Minister Modi assured the global innovative industry that India will do all it can to protect intellectual property. He opined “We are committed to protecting Intellectual Property Rights [IPRs]. That is essential to fostering creativity”. In October, 2015, during his meeting with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, he reiterated that “the government will soon come out with a comprehensive IPR policy.” Germany too is home to multinationals in pharmaceutical, agro-chemicals sectors spending billions of dollars on research and development [R&D] and like US, has a fundamental interest in protection of IPRs. The commitments made by Modi on international...

About 30 months back, the US drug multinational Merck Sharp Dohme (MSD) had petitioned the Delhi High Court [DHC] to restrain an Indian firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals from manufacturing and selling its anti-diabetes drugs viz., Zita and Zita-Met which violated its patents in India. The drugs contain ‘Sitagliptin’ salt for which MSD has a patent in India. Then, the court had rejected the stance of MSD. However, in a landmark judgement delivered on October 7, 2015, reversing the earlier stance, a bench of DHC has “restrained Glenmark by decree of permanent injunction from making, using, selling, distributing, advertising, exporting, offering for sale or dealing in Sitagliptin phosphate monohydrate or any other salt of Sitagliptin in any form, alone or in combination...