Left leaders to meet Nath on patents Bill

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet leaders of the Left parties tomorrow to discuss the Left's objections to the patents amendment Bill. Mukherjee heads the group of ministers on the patent issue.

A copy of the draft Bill, which lapsed when the last Lok Sabha was dissolved, has been circulated to the Left parties a day ahead of the meeting.

The Left parties have submitted their objections to the Bill in the form of a note and have asked the government to be cautious.

"There is nothing sacro-scant about the January 1, 2005 deadline. How can the government rush ahead with the amendment when there has not been enough discussion on the Bill?" asked CPI(M) politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai, who will also attend the tomorrow's meeting.

The government was not making use of concessions available in the TRIPS agreement to domestic industry, he said. The NDA government while framing the Bill had ignored those provisions and the UPA government had been equally blind to the needs of the domestic pharmaceutical companies, he added.

"We will ask for the Bill to be referred to a select committee and also that a public discussion be held before the Bill is passed," Pillai said.

The Left's opposition to the Bill in its present form have to do with the scope of patenta-bilty, working of patents, transfer of technology, parallel imports and pre-grant opposition.

Though the government has invited the Left for a debate on the Bill, Nath has said the government will go ahead with passing the Bill in the winter session of Parliament.