Testing IP reform in India

A recent decision by the Indian Controller of Patents and Designs to reject a patent application from Novartis AG for Gleevec imatinib highlights the unsettled state of India's intellectual property environment. The case - which Novartis has the right to appeal - is the first of many expected clashes over the next two or three years between the interests of research-based and generics manufacturers that will determine how attractive India is as a market for innovative products and as a launchpad for R&D.

Battles over patent protection for innovative drugs in India are widely expected because of the way in which the new law was written. When India's parliament drafted pharmaceutical product patent legislation in 2004 to bring the country into compliance with its obligations under World Trade Organization rules, it was besieged with competing demands from research-based and generic drug manufacturers...