Vol.6 No. 11 - 12 November - December 2004
INDIA INTRODUCES FULL PRODUCT PATENT REGIME
SALIENT FEATURES OF ORDINANCE ON PATENTS THIRD AMENDMENT
The law effectively balances and calibrates intellectual property protection with public health concerns - Kamal Nath
- Modification in the provisions relating to opposition procedures with a view to streamlining the system by having both
Pre-grant and Post-grant opposition in the Patent Office; - Addition of a new proviso to circumscribe rights in respect of mailbox applications so that patent rights in respect of the mailbox shall be available only from the date of grant of patent, and not retrospectively from the date of publication.
- Strengthening the provisions relating to national security to guard against patenting abroad of dual use technologies;
- Clarification of the provisions relating to patenting of software related inventions when they have technical application to industry or are in combination with hardware;
- Rationalisation of provisions relating to time-lines with a view to introducing flexibility and reducing the processing time for patent applications, and simplifying and rationalising procedures.
Mr. Kamal Nath, Minister for Commerce and
Industry, holding a Press Conference in
New Delhi on December 27, 2004, to announce the Ordinance on Patents Third Amendment
- Extension of product patent protection to all fields of technology (i.e., drugs, food and chemicals);
- Deletion of the provisions relating to Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMRs) (which would now become redundant), and introduction of a transitional provision for safeguarding EMRs already granted;
- Introduction of a provision for enabling grant of compulsory licence for export of medicines to countries which have insufficient or no manufacturing capacity, to meet emergent public health situations (in accordance with the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health);
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