[Commons-Law] Lok Sabha approves patents bill

[Mrinalini Kochupillai]

Lok Sabha approves patents bill
Tue March 22, 2005 9:59 PM GMT+05:30

By Surojit Gupta

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Lok Sabha passed a patents bill on Tuesday
making it illegal to copy patented drugs, a practice that has made
cheaper medicines available in India and abroad.

Lawmakers of the Congress party-led ruling alliance and their
communist allies passed the bill with a voice vote, a key step to
fulfilling India's WTO commitments.

The bill, which will become law once it is approved by the Rajya
Sabha, also covers other products such as chemicals, mobile phones and
computers.

The bill was approved after the government conceded demands from its
communist allies and included some of the amendments suggested by them
which included allowing export of pharmaceutical products to least
developed countries.

Earlier, the legislation had faced resistance from the ruling
coalition's allies and opposition parties who were concerned about the
availability of affordable drugs in India.

The existing patent law has allowed drug makers to copy patented drugs
as long as they use a different manufacturing process. It has fostered
a strong drug manufacturing industry in India for more than three
decades.

The government argues, however, that patent recognition is an
essential pre-condition for India's drug industry to further its own
drug research and development or attract foreign partners.

India is already the world's fourth-largest producer of medicines by
volume but ranks only 13th by value, reflecting the very low prices of
products in the local market.

India issued a presidential decree on patent protection at the end of
December but the change needs to be ratified by parliament within six
months.

Lawmakers from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party led
opposition walked out of parliament before the legislation was
approved.

Health activists urged the government on Tuesday to review the patent
bill which they said would make drugs unaffordable for millions
suffering from AIDS.

"Fifty percent of people with AIDS in the developing world depend on
generic drugs from India," Ellen 't Hoen, director of policy advocacy
and research at relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors
Without Borders, told a news conference.

"The patent law will cut the lifeline to other countries. Besides, the
Doha declaration also says that countries should design products so
that they protect public health."

Analysts lauded the passage of the patent amendment bill and said it
would foster research and development activities in India by foreign
companies.

"This is one of the reforms which was pending for quite some time and
this is a step in the right direction," said D.H. Pai Panandikar,
president of the RPG foundation, a private economic think-tank.