Product patent regime to impact agri industry

The product patent regime, that comes into effect from January 1, 2005, will have a huge impact on the Indian food and agri products industries, experts said at a seminar on 'Trade Marks and Patents of Pharmaceutical Products', held here.

Indian companies will have to gear up to face the challenges and protect their marketshare in the food and agri products, experts felt.

"So much is being debated about the pharmaceutical industry, and how it will be affected in the product patent regime.

"But equally important are the food and agri products industries, which will also be impacted in a huge way," said Gopakumar Nair, an intellectual property rights (IPR) consultant.

Nair said that multinational companies involved in manufacture of insecticides, fungicides and other products might actually initiate litigations against Indian fertiliser majors and even smaller companies, if the processes the Indian companies use in manufacturing fertilisers and insecticides are already patented.

"A few Indian fertiliser, insecticide, fungicide and other product manufacturing companies have already begun patenting products. Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertlisers Company Ltd (GNFC) has already begun patenting its products," said Nair.

He said that until now there were no restrictions on the processes used in manufacturing insecticides, fungicides and the like, but post January 1, 2005, Indian companies might find themselves not being allowed to use those processes.

"In such a scenario, Indian fertlisers and chemical producers will have to take necessary precautionary steps," Nair felt.

Patrick Lloyd, a partner in Reddie &Grose, a European Patent law firm, said that Indian companies do not seem to have the same kind of protection that European firms enjoy.

"It appears that there will be a rise in prices after the product patent regime comes into effect, but with the strong innovative spirit that is in India, the industry will adapt and move forward more forcefully," felt Lloyd.

Anil Gupta, professor, IIM-Ahmedabad, said that the applicants filing for patents should look at patenting all possible variations of the products, as they stand chances of losing out on rights of selling products that they have a control over. He added that all possible variations, likely groups, sub-groups, permutations and combinations should also be patented.

Manoj Pillai of Lex Orbis, a Delhi-based legal firm that specialises in Intellectual Property practice, said that India should look to protect its diary industry.

"We might have monopoly in several milk products, but Indian companies or co-operatives will have to discontinue production if the particular product gets patented by some multi-national company," he said.