March 24th, 2008
In a fine column in the Indian Express, Saubhik Chakravarti argues that respecting patent regimes does not necessarily sacrifice lives,
They should also see that the question of affordable access to drugs is a matter of public policy, not patents per se. India spends 1 per cent of its GDP on public health — that’s [...]
August 30th, 2007
As part of its efforts to celebrate the 60th anniversary of India’s independence, DNA requested me to write an article on India and intellectual property. For those interested, it can be found here. I’ve also copied it below.
I’ve advocated in this article that the Novartis patent case be permitted to run its course and the [...]
August 8th, 2007
In a significant judgment, the Chennai High Court has rejected Novartis’s attempt to patent Gleevec in India. The court judgment is being hailed by assorted NGO’s and Indian pharmaceutical companies which make generic drugs. As Bibek Debroy points out, they are missing the whole point.
Third, let’s not confuse broader public health issues with the [...]
March 19th, 2007
According to this AP story, companies are being asked to donate unused patents to spur entrepreneurship. I had heard from a friend in IBM about large number of patents remaining unused, but the figure of 90-95% sounds startling. Of course, one must realize that all patents do not have the equal potential of developing into [...]
February 27th, 2007
The Mashelkar committee report on Indian patent laws has raised much controversy. Apart from being anti-national, it has been accused of plagiarism as some lines were lifted ad verbatim from a report by Shamnad Basheer. Whether inadvertent or deliberate, the charges of plagiarism have only damaged the credibility of the committee and I am glad [...]