Patents Bill draws more fire

Endorsing the Left parties' demand for more consultation on the Third Patents (Amendment) Bill, former Supreme Court Judge Justice VR Krishna Iyer has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to drop the present Bill altogether or refer it to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) for further discussions.

The Left parties referred to this letter, dated October 29, while framing their cautionary note to the government asking the Centre not to rush ahead with making India's patent laws TRIPS-compliant by January 1, 2005.

The Left note suggested the Bill be referred to a joint select committee or standing committee of Parliament, "which should solicit views from different sections, interest groups, and experts".

A copy of Iyer's letter was marked to all Left leaders, urging them to make sure the "amendment of the Bill is confined only to introduce product patent for drugs and medicines and providing essential safeguards to protect the continuance of production of drugs and pharmaceuticals in India."

Iyer's letter takes the Left argument further. It suggests that amendments to the present Act, passed in 2002, be restricted to section 5 (scope of patentability) and those concerning the grant of exclusive marketing rights (EMR).

Further, it asks for a built-in-legal safeguard for the continuance of drug manufacture under the process-patent regime by introducing a new clause (6) of section 162 of the present act. This clause will allow a method or process of manufacture, in use before the new law is enacted, to be continued, on the lines of the exception provided in the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

The Left parties' note picks up Iyer's point on the scope of patentability and also what Iyer terms, "a comprehensive judicial inquiry" into the principal Patents Act 1970.