Charting the paradigm for a new drug patent regime

India’s stand on product patents of pharmaceutical inventions has undergone considerable change since inception. The Patents and Designs Act, 1911, provided for product patent protection in pharmaceutical inventions. The Patents Act, 1970, however, did away with product patents for pharmaceutical products.

Process patents could still be obtained, which meant that minor alterations in the synthesis of a molecule could yield new process patents and drugs could be replicated through different methods. This encouraged the production of generic drugs and helped establish India worldwide as a low-cost producer.

TRIPS agreement

In 1995, the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement was reached, to which India was a signatory. Article 28 of TRIPS requires member countries to provide patent protection for both products and processes, subject to requirements of novelty, inventiveness and industrial applicability. Patent owners must also have the right to assign, transfer by succession or conclude licensing contracts for their patents.

Udwadia Udeshi & Argus Partners is a full-service law firm with offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai. Soorjya Ganguli is a partner and Pooja Chakrabarti is a senior associate at the firm. The views expressed by the authors are personal and do not reflect the views of the firm.