Challenges to India’s Pharmaceutical Patent Laws

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Science        
27 July 2012 vol 337, issue 6093, pages 381-496
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

Policy Forum
Intellectual Property
Challenges to India’s Pharmaceutical Patent Laws
Bhaven N. Sampat, Kenneth C. Shadlen, and Tahir M. Amin
Science 27 July 2012: 414-415.
Published online 5 July 2012 [DOI:10.1126/science.1224892]

The Indian Supreme Court will soon hear final arguments in a challenge by the pharmaceutical company Novartis against the Indian Patent Office’s (IPO) rejection of a patent for the leukemia drug Glivec. We discuss key issues, particularly the patentability of new compounds versus variants of existing compounds, and how the outcome of the case might affect patent terms and access to drugs in the developing world.