Few changes in Patents Bill likely

The government is likely to introduce a few cosmetic changes to the Patents Third Amendment Bill to satisfy the Left parties. The government had already passed the Bill through the ordinance route after theWinter Session of Parliament.

It is now pending before Parliament for ratification after which the ordinance will become a law.

Though it is unclear what the changes to the Bill might be, Left sources said it might assume the shape of some concessions to the domestic industry ""one of the several demands the Left had put forth in its note to the government on the issue.

In a meeting tomorrow in parliament, the Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath and Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, the head of the group of ministers (GoM) on the Patents Bill, will meet the leaders of the four Left parties to reach an agreement on the Bill.

Left sources indicated the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had already communicated to the government that the Left would vote in favour of the ordinance. However, the party's official line continues to be that they are opposed to the Bill in its present form.

The party has suggested that the government must incorporate the 'flexibilties' provided under the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement in the bill so that the domestic industry and consequently 'public health' does not suffer after the law comes into effect. However, the party has at no point said it will vote against the ordinance in Parliament.

Kamal Nath and Pranab Mukherjee were slated to meet Left leaders today in Parliament to sort out the issue, however, the meeting was postponed due to the debate on the President's address in both Houses of Parliament.

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha saw business being transacted today after almost a week's disruption. The BJP's protest against the conduct of the governors in Goa and Jharkhand saw Parliament being adjourned since last Wednesday.

This is the reason for the delay in the Patents ordinance being put to vote after postponed last Tuesday due to the Left's opposition.

In the interim, Kmal Nath talked with Communist Party of India (CPI) leader AB Bardhan, in an attempt to convince him about the viability of the bill in its present shape. He had talked to Bardhan even earlier on the issue, without making any progress.

'Kamal Nath has discussed the issue with me on two occasion and we have discussed the issue threadbare. There is no change in our stand,' Bardhan said .

The Left parties had presented a detailed list of proposed amendments to the patents bill which included suggestions to define 'inventions' more thoroughly.

The Left had also argued for pre-grant representation to be included in the bill and stressed the need for compulsory licensing and a review of the 'embedded software' clause in the bill.

Of these, the Left's suggestion on compulsory licensing seems most likely to figure in the revised draft of the patents bill.