Product Patents Okayed

The group of ministers on patents has opted for recognising product patents in the revised Patents Bill and rejected the transition regime which entailed extending exclusive marketing rights and mail-box facilities.

Top officials revealed that the government would introduce the new Bill to replace the Patents Act, 1970 in the winter session of Parliament. Under the World Trade Organisation pact, India has till April 1999 to introduce a transition regime.

The group of ministers, consisting of HRD minister M M Joshi, finance minister Yashwant Sinha, commerce minister Ramakrishna Hegde and industry minister Sikandar Bakht met at Joshi's residence last week to finalise their recommendations. The revised note will be submitted for the cabinet's approval.

 

Earlier, an experts committee had suggested that India set in place a product patents regime by the year 2000, five years ahead of the WTO stipulation on patents for agriculture and pharmaceutical products by 2005.

The expert group consisted of former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Raja Ramanna, Defence Research Development Organisation chief Abdul Kalam and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research director-general R A Mashelkar.

The committee had listed 10 major points on aligning Indian patent laws with international norms and also protecting Indian interests. A transitional mechanism for easy access to the mailbox facility and grant of exclusive marketing rights to the mailbox applicants were part of the recommendations.

As per WTO requirements, India has to accept mailbox applications and grant EMRs till the country allows product patents. While India has been accepting mailbox applications, it has not yet started allowing EMRs.