Uf Bid To Placate Opposition On Patents Issue Bill Opposition

In a letter to BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi last week, industry minister Murasoli Maran has offered to insert additional safety clauses in the Patents Bill, provided the Opposition is willing to go along with the government on legalising the patents mail box.

The mail box for receiving patents applications has been in existence since January 1, when the countdown began for the five-year transitional period granted to developing countries for implementing the trade-related agreement on intellectual property rights (TRIPs).

The bill provides for the setting of a ``sealed'' mail box to be opened at the end of the five-year period.

 

Maran's letter follows the discussions Prime Minister Deve Gowda held with the industry and commerce ministers, and subsequently with the multi-party Parliamentary Forum on Patent Laws. The two ministers are reported to have conveyed the urgency of at least legalising the mail box prior to the December meet.

The all-party forum has, however, argued against rushing through with the issue. It has suggested the appointment of a ``coordinator'' who would be entrusted with the task of eliciting views on the issue from a cross-section of people. Sources said that the Prime Minister had welcomed this suggestion at that meeting.

Meanwhile, the Opposition has decided to step up its opposition to the Patents Bill, both at the national and international levels. A national meet on patents and an international meet of parliamentarians are being scheduled to be held soon.

The United Front, on its part, is trying to defuse the issue. It is under pressure to resolve the mail box issue since the negotiators will be in a comparatively stronger position if they are able to state that India has implemented its part of the agreement.

In the absence of this positive indicator, the government will have to continue to cite the moving of the Patents Bill in Parliament as a proof of its willingness to implement the agreement.