Does anybody have any idea as to how soon India may have its hard core Patent Litigation, awards and all?
Any comments about the ongoing Novartis case?
There are two challenges made by the company. Firtsly, the Patent Controller had concluded that Glivec was merely a new form of an existing patented substance rather than a new invention that merited a patent, as defined in Indian patent law.
Novartis disagreed, however, on the basis that Indian patent law states that a patent cannot be granted for ΓÇ£the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance.ΓÇ¥
Novartis has said the Glivec patent application was rejected despite the fact that it demonstrated a 30 percent increase in bioavailability, the amount of drug absorbed in the body, over the original substance
The second, and most controversial, case challenged Indian law itself. Specifically, Novartis claimed that section 3(d) of the 2005 Indian Patents Act, which defines exactly what a new invention should consist of, is not in compliance with the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and is therefore unconstitutional.
