Left for pruning patent list before GoM

Even though an Ordinance on the Patents Amendment Bill has been issued, the Left parties have sent a fresh note to the group of ministers dealing with the matter and have asked the government to keep embedded software and hardware out of the ambit of the patents regime.

The note, written last week, had raised concerns that removing embedded software and hardware from the copyright regime and including them in patents law would help companies like Microsoft.

The government, however, disagrees. Senior commerce and industry ministry officials told Business Standard that the move would greatly benefit the Indian software sector that can now patent their software products.

The Left leaders also want the scope of patentability to be limited to 'something new' and have reiterated that the government should not dilute the clause on pre-grant opposition.

The Bill has proposed that pre-grant opposition should be dismissed within 48 months. At present, there is no time limit resulting in such applications taking over a decade before the patent is cleared.

Senior government officials said that the note from the Left delayed the introduction of the Patents (Third Amendment) Bill and the commerce and industry ministry was looking into the concerns expressed by the Communist parties.

The Left has also demanded that the government use the flexibility available under Trade Related Intellectual Property Right (Trips) to expand the scope of compulsory licensing.

It has also said that the government must fix the maximum quantum for royalty at 5 per cent of the cost of production. The proposed amendment does not prescribe any limit.

A CPI (M) leader said that the government must adopt a flexible attitude and make use of the freedom under Trips to ensure availability and products at affordable prices for the common man.

The Left is planning to oppose the government's attempts to promulgate an Ordinance on the issue.