Tuesday, 14 March 2017

DRAFTING A NON-PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION

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DRAFTING A NON-PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION!

Part1

Determining the Patentability of your InventionImage titled Apply for an International Patent Step 1

  1. 1Determine if you have a patentable invention. U.S. law sets forth the following requirements for something that can be patented:
    • It must be invented or discovered by a person;
    • It must be a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter; or
    • If not new, it must be an improvement on a useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.[1]
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    2Verify your invention is not already patented. If your invention meets the requirements for a patentable invention, you must conduct a search to determine whether your idea has already been patented. The US Patent and Trademark Office recommends you follow the following seven steps to search for a patent:
    • Brainstorm terms that are related to your invention. When coming up with terms, think about words relevant to your inventions purpose, make-up, and use.
    • Search for your terms on the USPTO website at: http://www.uspto.gov. You should conduct your search in the following format "CPC Scheme [plus keywords(s) describing invention]." This search should help you locate the invention’s Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC).
    • Once you have located the CPC, review the linked definition to make sure that the definition fits your invention.
    • Search the USPTO patent database, http://appft.uspto.gov, for all patents matching your CPC. After identifying the patents, quickly skim the first page of each patent to determine whether it matches your own invention. If there is a similarity, read the documents more closely including descriptions of the intended use of the invention and any drawings of the invention.
    • If your initial search does not turn up any similar patents, expand your search by performing a key word search on the http://appft.uspto.gov website. You can also search additional databases at http://worldwide.espacenet.com and http://www.uspto.gov/ptrc.[2]
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    3
    Hire a patent lawyer. Once you have conducted your initial search and found no matching patents, you should hire a patent lawyer. The filing of domestic and international patents requires significant paperwork, legal knowledge of patent law, and experience. While you can attempt to complete the filings yourself, it is strongly advised that you hire someone who has previously applied for patents. This attorney should be able to streamline the process, ensure that you don’t miss any deadlines, and prepare your paperwork so that it meets the requirements.
Part2

Applying for a Patent in Your RegionImage titled Apply for an International Patent Step 4

  1. 1Determine if you are applying for a provisional or non-provisional patent. A provisional application is essentially a placeholder where you begin to protect your invention before it is a fully formed or completed idea. If you file a provisional application, you will eventually need to file a non-provisional application within one-year of filing the provisional application.
    • A provisional application may be right for you if you are unsure of the commercial value of your invention but you want to protect your invention. It is less expensive to file a a provisional application and you have 12 months to determine if you want to move forward with the cost and time of filing a non-provisional application.
    • If you have already determined the commercial value of your invention and intend to move forward with the production of the product, you should apply for a non-provisional patent and save yourself the time of completing two applications.[3]
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    2
    Draft a provisional patent application. The provisional patent application provides a less expensive means for applicants filing for U.S. patents. A provisional patent means that the patent is pending. You can file a provisional application without a formal patent claim, oath, declaration, or an information disclosure statement.[4] A provisional patent application must include:

Sources and Citations

MORE DETAILS.............
What makes a good patent? The classic definition is that a good patent claims an invention as broadly as possible. That definition is fine as far as it goes, but the definition is deficient in that it glosses over both of the fundamental steps in drafting a good patent, namely: (a) identifying what the "invention" is relative to the prior art; and(b) describing the "invention" in a manner that best serves the purposes of the particular client.
A well-written patent claim takes into account the needs of the inventor vis-à-vis the marketplace. Among other things a patent drafter should weigh (a) the likely cost of lengthy arguments during the patent prosecution process to achieve the greatest possible coverage against (b) the benefit of narrower claims that might still be "good enough" to keep the competition at bay.
The main point is that good patenting is a lot more than simply securing the broadest possible coverage on what the inventor thinks is the invention. A good patent means that the patent drafter took the time to see through the applicant’s disclosure, not just into it. The task of patent drafter is much more than just describing and claiming what the inventor thinks he invented. The drafter must also describe and claim all that is inherent in that "invention". To do this, the patent drafter must thoroughly understand how the invention differs from the prior art, and devise all possible ways of embodying that difference.
This generally takes much more creativity than inventing the thing in the first place. Often it takes an hour, or even several hours to understand where the invention lies, and to figure out all alternatives. Remember that the invention is almost always broader than the inventor thinks it is. The easiest way to distinguish good patents from bad is to focus on the length and number of claims. Well-drafted patents tend to have claims that are short and few in number.
An invention disclosure form contains all of the information on the product or process which you believe to have invented. This is an important first step to help organize thoughts and explain the invention in a clear and concise way. A detailed invention disclosure form template can be found here and the essential information needed is summarized below:

Patent Specification
The next step is to prepare a patent specification. The contents of a patent specification are shown in the diagram below:
Drafting the Patent Claims
First, include a claim that defines your invention in broad terms, leaving out any and all unnecessary options. Second, include another claim that defines your invention with as much specificity and with every option you can think of. It does not matter that the claims won’t be in perfect format, with appropriate being defined as the format the Patent Office will ultimately require. At the initial filing stage what matters most is that claims are present and they have appropriate scope, with some being broad and some being narrow and quite specific.
Three criteria to take note of when drafting your claims are that they should clear, complete, and supported.
• Be Clear - Your claim must be clear so that you do not cause the reader to speculate about the claim. If you find yourself using words such as "thin", "strong", "a major part", "such as", "when required", then you are probably not being clear enough. These words force the reader to make a subjective judgment, not an objective observation.
• Be Complete - Each claim should be complete, so that it covers the inventive feature and enough elements around it to put the invention in the proper context.
• Be Supported - The claims have to be supported by the description. This means that all the characteristics of your invention that form part of the claims must be fully explained in the description. In addition, any terms you use in the claims must be either found in the description or clearly inferred from the description.
Patent drawings/Illustrations
The patent applicant is required to furnish at least one patent of the invention whenever the invention is capable of illustration by way of a drawing. Based on my experience I can say that a patent drawing is almost always required. The only time patent drawings are not required is when the invention relates to a chemical compound or composition.
In reality, you should also not think in terms of a single patent drawing or illustration, but rather in terms of however many patent drawings are necessary in order to demonstrate what you have invented. Most patent applications have at least several sheets of drawings, with each sheet routinely having multiple views of the invention. You may need to show various views (top, bottom, right, left, etc.) and you may need to break down the invention and show drawings of one or more of the component parts.
The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims, and it is required by Patent Office rules to be in a particular form. The Office specifies the size of the sheet on which the drawing is made, the type of paper, the margins, and many other hyper-technical details relating to the making of the drawings. The reason for specifying the standards in detail is that the drawings are printed and published in a uniform style when the patent issues, and the drawings must also be such that they can be readily understood by persons using the patent descriptions.
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How do I get a patent in India ?

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How much does getting a patent in India costs? There is no precise and accurate answer to this question as cost for a obtaining patent is dependent on mutiple factors... What best we can have is range for costs involved in...
There are two elements for cost of getting patent / filing patent in India:
  • The Government fees for Forms, requests and renewals.
  • Professional Charges for patent professional, patent agent / attorney
Government fees too, are different for an individual inventor and a company. and fees for patent application also defers based on number of claims and pages in the specification. So, a lot of factors need to be considered when talking about costs involved in getting patent.
Yet to give you an idea,the cost to file a patent is approximately Rs. 45,000 to 65,000. This is assuming that you have hired a patent (agent) professionals for patent research, writing and filing patent application for your  invention.
This cost requires in stages as your invention proceeds from Novelty Search (about Rs. 15000)Patent drafting and filing in India (about Rs. 30,000) and after 1 to 2 years for responding to office actions if any objections are taken by controller in examination report on application about your invention, such response to office actions typically requires (about Rs. 15000).
Note: these costs are mentioned are exemplary and may vary with respect to patent professionals and companies.
The link below is the fees structure mentioned at the patent office website in India. http://ipindia.nic.in/ipr/patent/patent_formsfees/Fees.pdf
If you are filing patent on your own, without help from patent agent, then it can cost much lesser as only fees you are paying is government fees for patent filing and prosecution.
Here is how you will need charges as per stages in patent filing. We are assuming you have hired a patent professional in helping you with patent filing, which is recommended and makes this all patenting efforts worthwhile with his experience and expertise in techno-legal writing.
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patent in india platform office

Stage 1: invention disclosure

This is initial phase when you disclose your invention to the patent professional (patent agent) by signing a Non disclosure agreement. Here you should submit each know fact about your invention, description diagrams and experimental results (if any). Hold nothing back.
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Stage 2: Novelty search (patentability search)  

The professional charges at this phase range from (Rs 10,000 to Rs.20,000 )
In this phase, patent professional performed an extensive search for prior art in all possible databases for patent, articles, thesis etc... And builds a patentability search report based on closest prior art found for your invention.
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Stage 3: Decide to file patent application

On reviewing the patentability search report and discovered closest prior arts for your invention you can take a decision whether to go ahead with patent application filing.
Your invention needs to have “inventive step” as compared with existing prior art to be able to qualify for a patent. The inventive step is achieved when your invention has either ‘technical advance’ or ‘economic significance’ or both over existing prior arts.
When you decide to go ahead with patent filing next step is writing patent application also called as patent drafting.
Image titled Patent Software Step 6

Stage 4: Patent drafting (patent writing)

Patent drafting charges range from Rs. 20,000 to 30,000 (professional fees)
Drafting a patent application is a specialized job and requires both technical (field of invention) and legal (Indian patent act) understanding.
As you may have heard, patent is a techno-legal document. Many inventors trying to write patent application on their own writes it from completely technical perspective. Writing patent application as a technical document without considering legal aspect may be a mistake which can make your application not worth a lot. And all the efforts you took for research and development can go waste.
Hence, right patent professional (patent agent) with appropriate experience can remarkably add value to patent application.
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Stage 5:  Filing Patent application

Patent filing involves patent office fees as explained in table below
When you done with the review of patent drafted and satisfied with the scope and technical details in the patent application, you can file the patent application is prescribed manner. That is with appropriate forms with appropriate fees. You need to pay fees of Rs. 1600 or 4000 0r 8000 (based on type of applicant) while submitting the patent application in patent office.
If you do not file request for early publication (fees mentioned in table below) the patent application will be published on expiry of 18 months.
Image titled Patent Software Step 8

Stage 6: Request for Examination  

Request for examination fees is Rs. 4000 or 10000 or 20000 (based on type of applicant)
The request for examination is to be made within 48 months from the date of filing the patent application, along with prescribed form and fees. This is the request made to Indian patent office to examine you patent application.
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Stage 7: Responding to objections in examination report

The first examination report submitted to controller by examiner generally contains prior arts (existing documents before the date of filing) which are similar to the claimed invention, and same is reported to patent applicant.
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Step 8: respond to objections

Majority of patent applicants will receive some type of objections based on examination report. The best thing to do it analyze the examination report along with patent professional (patent agent) and creating a response to the objections raised in the examination report.
This is a chance for an inventor to communicate his novelty or inventive step over prior arts found in the examination report. The inventor and patent agent create and send a response to the examination that tries to prove to controller that his invention is indeed patentable and satisfies all patentability criteria’s.
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Step 9: Grant of patent

The application would be placed in order for grant once it is found to be meeting all patentability requirements. The grant of patent is notified in the patent journal which is published time to time.
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Stage 10: Renewal of Patent fees    

Maintaining patent for its entire life time that is 20 years from filing date requires renewal fees to be paid to patent office as mentioned in link hereImage titled Patent Software Step 14
Image titled Patent Software Step 10
NoDescription 
Natural Person
(Individual inventors)
Other than Natural person (companies)Comment
Small EntityOther than small entity
1Application for grant of patent160040008000Mandatory
2Early publication fee2500625012500Optional
3Request for examination of patent application40001000020000Mandatory
4For every Extra sheet over 30 sheets160/sheet400/sheet800/sheetMandatory
5For every Extra claim over 10 claims320/claim800/claim1600/claimMandatory

Monday, 27 February 2017

Trying to understand Gleevec India patent case

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Novartis v. Union of India & Others is a landmark decision by a two-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court on the issue of whether Novartis could patent Gleevec in India, and was the culmination of a seven-year-long litigation fought by Novartis. The Supreme Court upheld the Indian patent office's rejection of the patent application.
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The patent application at the center of the case was filed by Novartis in India in 1998, after India had agreed to enter the World Trade Organization and to abide by worldwide intellectual property standards under the TRIPS agreement. As part of this agreement, India made changes to its patent law; the biggest of which was that prior to these changes, patents on products were not allowed, while afterwards they were, albeit with restrictions. These changes came into effect in 2005, so Novartis' patent application waited in a "mailbox" with others until then, under procedures that India instituted to manage the transition. India also passed certain amendments to its patent law in 2005, just before the laws came into effect, which played a key role in the rejection of the patent application.
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The patent application claimed the final form of Gleevec (the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate). In 1993, during the time India did not allow patents on products, Novartis had patented imatinib, with salts vaguely specified, in many countries but could not patent it in India. The key differences between the two patent applications, were that the 1998 patent application specified the counterion (Gleevec is a specific salt - imatinib mesylate) while the 1993 patent application did not claim any specific salts nor did it mention mesylate, and the 1998 patent application specified the solid form of Gleevec - the way the individual molecules are packed together into a solid when the drug itself is manufactured (this is separate from processes by which the drug itself is formulated into pills or capsules) - while the 1993 patent application did not. The solid form of imatinib mesylate in Gleevec is beta crystalline.
As provided under the TRIPS agreement, Novartis applied for Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMR) for Gleevec from the Indian Patent Office and the EMR were granted in November 2003. Novartis made use of the EMR to obtain orders against some generic manufacturers who had already launched Gleevec in India. Novartis set the price of Gleevec at USD 2666 per patient per month; generic companies were selling their versions at USD 177 to 266 per patient per month. Novartis also initiated a program to assist patients who could not afford its version of the drug, concurrent with its product launch.
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When examination of Novartis' patent application began in 2005, it came under immediate attack from oppositions initiated by generic companies that were already selling Gleevec in India and by advocacy groups. The application was rejected by the patent office and by an appeal board. The key basis for the rejection was the part of Indian patent law that was created by amendment in 2005, describing the patentability of new uses for known drugs and modifications of known drugs. That section, Paragraph 3d, specified that such inventions are patentable only if "they differ significantly in properties with regard to efficacy." At one point, Novartis went to court to try to invalidate Paragraph 3d; it argued that the provision was unconstitutionally vague and that it violated TRIPS. Novartis lost that case and did not appeal. Novartis did appeal the rejection by the patent office to India's Supreme Court, which took the case.
The Supreme Court case hinged on the interpretation of Paragraph 3d. The Supreme Court decided that the substance that Novartis sought to patent was indeed a modification of a known drug (the raw form of imatinib, which was publicly disclosed in the 1993 patent application and in scientific articles), that Novartis did not present evidence of a difference in therapeutic efficacy between the final form of Gleevec and the raw form of imatinib, and that therefore the patent application was properly rejected by the patent office and lower courts.
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Although the court ruled narrowly, and took care to note that the subject application was filed during a time of transition in Indian patent law, the decision generated widespread global news coverage and reignited debates on balancing public good with monopolistic pricing and innovation with affordability. Had Novartis won and gotten its patent issued, it could not have prevented generics companies in India from continuing to sell generic Gleevec, but it could have obligated them to pay a reasonable royalty under a grandfather clause included in India's patent law.
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Background

History of Patent laws and pharma industry in India

As part of the Commonwealth, India inherited its intellectual property laws from Great Britain. However, after gaining independence in 1947, there was a growing consensus that to boost manufacturing restrictive product patents must be temporarily removed.[2] In 1970, amendments to the Indian Patents Act abolished product patents but retained process patents with a reduced span of protection.
During the absence of any product patent regime, the Indian pharmaceutical industry grew at a remarkable pace, ultimately becoming a net exporter, the world's third-largest by volume, and fourteenth-largest by value.[3]
However, in the 1990s, during the Uruguay Round negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), India pledged to bring its patent legislation in tune with the TRIPS mandate in a phased manner.[4] Consequently, in 1999 India allowed for transitional filing of product patent applications, with retrospective effect from 1995. Full product and process patent protection was re-introduced beginning in 2005 when all transitional regulations ended.[5]
India's patent law also contained a "grandfather clause" in section 11A, subsection (7),[6] that created "a special regime for generic versions of medicines if the initial patent application was made between the 1st of January 1995 and the 31st of December 2004 and if these medicines were already on the Indian market before the 1st of January 2005.... Generics that enter into this category can stay on the Indian market even if their pharmaceutical substance is patented. However, the Indian law requires that the producers of those generics then pay a “reasonable royalty” to the patent holder."[7][8]
The case hinged on a section of the new Indian patent law dealing with whether incremental inventions would be patentable, namely Section 3d.
The initial version read as follows: "The mere discovery of any new property or new use of a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant."[9]
This was amended twice, the last time in 2005. The final version reads as follows (amendments in italics): "The mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant. Explanation: For the purposes of this clause, salts,esters, ethers, polymorphs, metabolites, pureform, particle size isomers, mixtures of isomers, complexes, combinations and other derivatives of known substance shall be considered to be the same substance, unless they differ significantly in properties with regard to efficacy."[9]
As discussed below, Novartis filed its initial patent application on imatinib (the raw material in Gleevec) in 1993, and at that time India did not confer product patents.[10] As mentioned above, in 1995 India joined the World Trade Organization and signed onto TRIPS; Switzerland joined the WTO later that same year.[11][12] Novartis filed its initial patent applications on Gleevec itself in 1997, after both India and Switzerland had joined the WTO but while both were still in transition.
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Initial patent filings and product launches

In the early 1990s a number of derivatives of N-phenyl-2-pyrimidineamine were synthesized by scientists at Ciba-Geigy (now part of Novartis), one compound of which was CGP 57148 in free base form (later given the International Nonproprietary Name ‘imatinib’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO)). A Swiss patent application was filed on April 3, 1992, which was then filed in the EU, the US, and other countries in March and April 1993[13][14] and in 1996 United States and European patent offices granted a patent to Novartis claiming imatinib and its derivatives, including salts thereof (but not mentioning mesylate). The patent does not specify any crystal forms of the compounds or discuss their relative advantages and disadvantages.[15][16]
On July 18, 1997, Novartis filed a new patent application in Switzerland on the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate (the mesylate salt of imatinib).
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The "beta crystalline form" of the molecule is a specific polymorph of imatinib mesylate; a specific way that the individual molecules pack together to form a solid. This is the actual form of the drug sold as Gleevec/Glivec; a salt (imatinib mesylate) as opposed to a free base, and the beta crystalline form as opposed to the alpha or other form.[17]:3 On July 16, 1998, Novartis filed this patent application in India, which was given application number No.1602/MAS/1998, and on July 16, 1998, it filed a PCT, each of which claimed priority to the 1997 Swiss application.[18][19] The application showed that compared to the alpha form, the beta form had (i) more beneficial flow properties, (ii) better thermodynamic stability, (iii) lower hygroscopicity.[19] Novartis did not however provide any data showing improved efficacy (showing that this form of the drug actually worked better in treating cancer than the amorphous form of the drug they had earlier patented) - that part of Indian patent law was created in 2005, years after Novartis' initial filing. Later, during the course of prosecution, appeals, and the litigation that ensued in India, Novartis undertook studies to compare the properties of the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate (described in its new patent application), with the freebase form of imatinib (described in the older patent), and submitted them in affidavits. The studies showed that the beta crystalline form of the drug had increased bioavailability in rats.[20] A United States patent was granted in 2005.[21]
In 2001 the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved imatinib mesylate in its beta crystalline form, sold by Novartis as Gleevec (U.S.)[22] or Glivec (Europe/Australia/Latin America). TIME magazine hailed Gleevec in 2001 as the "magic bullet" to cure cancer.[23][24] Both Novartis patents - on the freebase form of imatinib, and on the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate - are listed by Novartis in the FDA's Orange Book entry for Gleevec.[25]
As provided under the TRIPS agreement, Novartis applied for Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMR) for Gleevec from the Indian Patent Office and the EMR was granted in November 2003.[26] Novartis made use of the EMR to obtain orders against some generic manufacturers who had already launched Gleevec in India. Novartis set the price of Gleevec at USD 2666 per patient per month; generic companies were selling their versions at USD 177 to 266 per patient per month.[27] Novartis also initiated a program to assist patients who could not afford its version of the drug, concurrent with its product launch.[28]
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Initial patent prosecution and litigation

As mentioned above, Novartis' patent application on the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate was filed in India in 1998 and put in a "mail-box" as per the TRIPS agreement.[29] The application was processed in 2005 once the law in India allowed for product patents.[30] The Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs rejected the application on 25 January 2006 as failing to satisfy requirements for novelty and non-obviousness. As the appellate board was not yet convened, Novartis filed several appeals before the Madras High Court in 2006.
 
The free base form of anti-cancer agent imatinib. Imatinib mesylate is a salt formed by a 1:1 reaction of imatinib and methanesulfonic acid.
Before the High Court could decide on the issue of patentability, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) was formed and in 2007 the case was transferred before the IPAB in line with section 117G of the Indian Patent Act. The IPAB on 26 June 2009 modified the decision of the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs stating that ingredients for grant of patent novelty and non obviousness to person skilled in the art were present in the application but rejected the application on the ground that the drug is not a new substance but an amended version of a known compound and that Novartis was unable to show any significant increase in the efficacy of the drug and it, therefore, failed the test laid down by section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act.[31][32]
Novartis mounted a separate and concurrent litigation before the Madras High Court arguing that section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act is violated Article 14 of the Indian constitution because the definition of "enhanced efficacy" was too vague and left too much power in the hands of the patent examiner, and was in violation of India's obligations under the TRIPs agreement because it rendered inventions that should be patentable, unpatentable, and argued that the Court was the proper venue for hearing the claim concerning violation of TRIPS. Counsel for the Indian government argued that any violation of TRIPS belonged before the Dispute Settlement Board established by TRIPS, not before the Court, and that in any case, TRIPS allowed national laws to address the needs of its citizens; with respect to the claim that the amended law was arbitrary, counsel argued that "enhanced efficacy" is well understood in the pharmaceutical arts. In 2007 the High Court decided, agreeing with Novartis that it had the right to hear the case, and agreeing with counsel for the Indian government that the law was not vague, and that the law complied with TRIPS, and observed that section 3(d) aims to prevent evergreening and to provide easy access for Indian citizens to life saving drugs.[9] Novartis did not further challenge this order.
After IPAB rejected the patent application in 2009, Novartis appealed directly before the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition (SLP) under Article 136 of the Indian Constitution;[33] under normal circumstances, an appeal from IPAB should have been before one of the High Courts before it could proceed to the Supreme Court. However the patent if granted on appeal would expire by 2018 and thus any further appeal at that stage would be pointless. Considering this urgency and the need for an authoritative decision on section 3(d) (other cases on this issue were pending before various High courts), the Supreme Court granted special leave to bypass the High Court appeals process and come directly before it.

Arguments before the Supreme Court

Novartis

The legal team of Novartis was led by ex-Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramaniam and senior advocate T. R. Andhyarujina.[34] Novartis had attempted to patent imatinib mesylate in beta crystalline form (rather than imatinib or imatinib mesylate), thus they sought to prevent extant literature on imatinib or imatininb mesylate from being considered as prior art. The thrust of the arguments by Novartis' legal team was two-fold: firstly, that the Zimmerman patents and the journal articles published by Zimmerman et al. do not constitute prior art for the beta crystalline form as it is only one polymorph of imatinib mesylate, thereby providing the required novelty and inventive step; and secondly, that imatinib mesylate in beta crystalline form has enhanced efficacy over imatinib or imatinib mesylate to pass the test of section 3(d).
To prove novelty and inventive step it was argued that the Zimmermann patent did not teach or suggest to a person skilled in the art to select the beta crystalline form in preference to other compounds of which examples were given in the Zimmermann patent. Further, even if the beta crystalline form was selected, the Zimmermann patent did not teach a person to how to prepare that particular polymorph of the salt. Having arrived at the beta crystal form of methanesulfonic acid addition salt (mesylate salt) of imatinib, Novartis contended that the inventors had to further research to be able to ensure that particular salt form of imatinib was suitable for administration in a solid oral dosage form. Hence, the coming into being of the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate from the free base of imatinib was the result of an invention that involved technical advance as compared to the existing knowledge and brought into existence a new substance. Research was required to define and optimise the process parameters to selectively prepare the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate. As the Zimmermann patent contains no mention of polymorphism or crystalline structure, the relevant crystalline form that was synthesized needed to be invented. There was no way of predicting that the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate would possess the characteristics that would make it orally administrable to humans without going through the inventive steps.[35]
To prove that the beta crystalline form enhanced efficacy over other polymorphs, it was stated that beta crystalline form has (i) more beneficial flow properties, (ii) better thermodynamic stability, (iii) lower hygroscopicity, and (iv) increased bioavailability.[20]

Respondents

There were seven named respondents who were represented before the court along with two Intervenor/Amicus. The respondents were led by Additional Solicitor General of India Paras Kuhad.[34]
Various arguments were brought before the court but primarily focussed on proving imatinib mesylate in beta crystalline form is neither novel nor is it non-obvious due to publications about imatinib mesylate in Cancer Research and Nature in 1996, disclosures in Zimmerman patents, disclosures to FDA and finally that efficacy as referred to in section 3(d) should be interpreted as therapeutic efficacy and not merely a physical efficacy.[36]
The respondents quoted extensively from Doha Declaration, excerpts from parliamentary debates, petitions from NGOs, WHO, etc. to highlight the public policy dimension of arguments in regards to easy affordability and availability of life saving drugs.

Supreme Court decision

Supreme Court decided the matter de novo looking into matters of both fact and law.
The court first analysed the question of prior art by looking into Zimmerman patent and the related academic publications. It was clear from the Zimmerman patent that imatinib mesylate itself was not new and did not qualify the test of invention as laid down in section 2(1)(j) and section 2(1)(ja) of the Patents Act, 1970.[37] The court then examined the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate and wrote that it, "for the sake of argument, may be accepted to be new, in the sense that it is not known from the Zimmermann patent. (Whether or not it involves an “inventive step” is another matter, and there is no need to go into that aspect of the matter now). Now, the beta crystalline form of Imatinib Mesylate being a pharmaceutical substance and moreover a polymorph of Imatinib Mesylate, it directly runs into section 3(d) of the Act with the explanation appended to the provision".[38]
In applying 3(d) of the Act, the Court decided to interpret "efficacy" as "therapeutic efficacy" because the subject matter of the patent is a compound of medicinal value. Court acknowledged that physical efficacy of imatinib mesylate in beta crystalline form is enhanced in comparison to other forms and that the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate has 30 per cent increased bioavailability as compared to imatinib in free base form.[39] However, as no material had been offered to indicate that the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate will produce an enhanced or superior efficacy (therapeutic) on molecular basis than what could be achieved with imatinib free base in vivo animal model, the court opined that the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate, does not qualify the test of Section 3(d).[40][41]
Thus in effect, Indian Supreme Court upheld the view that under Indian Patent Act for grant of pharmaceutical patents apart from proving the traditional tests of novelty, inventive step and application, there is a new test of enhanced therapeutic efficacy for claims that cover incremental changes to existing drugs.[42]
The Court took pains to point out that the subject patent application was filed during a time of transition in Indian patent law, especially with regard to striking Section 5, which had barred product patents and adding section 3(d), for which there was no case law yet.[43] The Court also took care to state the decision was intended to be narrow: "We have held that the subject product, the beta crystalline form of Imatinib Mesylate, does not qualify the test of Section 3(d) of the Act but that is not to say that Section 3(d) bars patent protection for all incremental inventions of chemical and pharmaceutical substances. It will be a grave mistake to read this judgment to mean that section 3(d) was amended with the intent to undo the fundamental change brought in the patent regime by deletion of section 5 from the Parent Act. That is not said in this judgment."[44]

Reception

The decision received extensive coverage from Indian and international media.[28][45][46][47][48]
It reignited debates on balancing public good with monopolistic pricing and innovation with affordability.[49][50][51]
Several commenters, including Novartis, noted that a decision either way would not have affected the ability of generics companies in India to continue selling generic Gleevec. The new patent law India adopted in 2005 contains a grandfather clause that allows generic copies of drugs launched before 2005, which includes Gleevec, to continue to be sold, albeit with payment of a reasonable royalty to Novartis.[8][52] Other commenters noted that the case was unique with respect to its timing and the importance of the drug, and that large generalizations should not be taken from it. "As a case study, Glivec is peculiar and unlikely to be representative going forward. Had it been invented a few years later (or TRIPS implemented a few years earlier), Glivec likely would be patented in India, even under 3(d) standards. Newly discovered compounds are likely to receive basic patents and to be less vulnerable to 3(d) rejections."[53] Prashant Reddy, author of the Spicy IP blog and postgraduate student at Stanford University Law School, was quoted in Nature Drug Discovery as saying: “It was a very limited ruling in most aspects and very fact-specific. Although the Court has interpreted efficacy to mean only therapeutic efficacy, it has left the exact scope of therapeutic efficacy to be defined in future cases....Most importantly, the Court made the nuanced distinction between the rent-seeking practice of evergreening and the beneficial practice of incremental innovation, and has clarified that Indian patent law forbids only the former."[54][55]
There were however strong negative and positive reactions.

Support

The judgement garnered widespread support from international organisations and advocacy groups like Médecins Sans Frontières,[56] WHO, etc. who welcomed the decision against evergreening of pharmaceutical patents.
Most news item contrasted the huge price difference between patented Gleevec of Novartis and the generic versions of Cipla and other generic companies.[57][58] Some commentators have stated that this strict patent requirement would actually enhance innovation as the pharmaceutical companies would have to invest more in R&D to come up with new cures rather than repackage known compounds.[59] Others have suggested that exclusions under section 3(d) present the hard cases that lie at the margins of the patent system due to the eternally unsettled nature of the definition of the term 'invention'.[60] Several patent law experts have also pointed out that stringent conditions for patentability are followed in many jurisdictions around the world, and there is no reason India should not follow the same standards, given the extent of poverty and lack of availability of affordable medicines in the country.[61]

Opposition

Ranjit Shahani, vice-chairman and managing director of Novartis India Ltd is quoted as saying "This ruling is a setback for patients that will hinder medical progress for diseases without effective treatment options."[62] He also said that companies like Novartis would invest less money in research in India as a result of the ruling.[46] Novartis also emphasized that it continues to be committed to access to its drugs; according to Novartis, by 2013, "95% of patients in India—roughly 16,000 people—receive Glivec free of charge... and it has provided more than $1.7 billion worth of Glivec to Indian patients in its support program since it was started...."[28] The New York Times quoted Chip Davis, the executive vice president of advocacy at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry trade group: “It really is in our view another example of what I would characterize as a deteriorating innovation environment in India. The Indian government and the Indian courts have come down on the side that doesn’t recognize the value of innovation and the value of strong intellectual property, which we believe is essential.”[46]
Image result for gleevec india patent case

References

  1. Jump up^ "Novartis v. Union Of India & Ors on 1 April 2013".
  2. Jump up^ "Patenting Landscape in India 2009".
  3. Jump up^ "Pharma to topple IT as big paymaster"The Economic Times. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 8 Jun 2010.
  4. Jump up^ "History of Patent Law in India".
  5. Jump up^ "Product v. Process Patent in India".
  6. Jump up^ Controller General of Patents Designs and Trade Marks, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry The Patents Act 1970 (incorporating all amendments till 26-01-2013)
  7. Jump up^ Erklärung von Bern. May 8, 2007 Short questions and answers about the court case initiated by Novartis in India
  8. Jump up to:a b Kevin Grogan for PharmaTimes. February 27, 2012 Novartis explains stance over India patent law challenge
  9. Jump up to:a b c W.P. No.24759 of 2006
  10. Jump up^ Finally, the patients prevail, Sarah Hiddlestone, The Hindu, 7 April 2013
  11. Jump up^ Switzerland page at WTO
  12. Jump up^ Note: Further complicating matters, India's 1993 notification to the WTO indicating that it would join, included a list of countries whose priorities dates it would recognize for patenting, and Switzerland was not on the list as it was not a member of the WTO at that time.(Sudhir Ahuja, D P Ahuja & Co, Calcutta, India. India Decides to Join the Paris Convention and Ratify the Patent Cooperation Treaty. So What? Patent World Issue #106, October 1998). Additionally the EPO was not mentioned in the notification from India; it was not until 2003 that EPO became officially recognized by India, fully normalizing patent reciprocity between India and Europe. (G 0002/02 (Priorities from India/ASTRAZENECA) of 26.4.2004)
  13. Jump up^ US Patent Application No. 08/042,322). This application was abandoned and another continuation-in-part application was then filed on April 28, 1994 which matured into (US Patent 5,521,184).
  14. Jump up^ See here for worldwide filings]
  15. Jump up^ US Patent 5,521,184
  16. Jump up^ EP0564409
  17. Jump up^ Staff, European Medicines Agency, 2004. EMEA Scientific Discussion of Glivec
  18. Jump up^ Note: The Indian patent application does not appear to be publicly available. However according to the decision of the IPAB on 26 June 2009 (page 27) discussed below, "The Appellant’s application under the PCT was substantially on the same invention as had been made in India."
  19. Jump up to:a b Published PCT application WO1999003854
  20. Jump up to:a b Novartis v UoI, para 168
  21. Jump up^ US Patent 6,894,051
  22. Jump up^ Investigational New Drug Application (IND # 55,666) for Gleevec was filed on 9 April 1998 and on February 27, 2001, the original New Drug Application (FDA Drug Approval Package for Gleevec NDA # 21-335) was filed before the US Food and Drug Administration for imatinib mesylate for the treatment of patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
  23. Jump up^ Closing In On Cancer by Alice Park, TIME Magazine, 21 May 2001
  24. Jump up^ Novartis' Gleevec Cancer "Magic Bullet" Extends Life In GIST Patients, 6 June 2011
  25. Jump up^ FDA Orange Book; Patent and Exclusivity Search Results from query on Appl No 021588 Product 001 in the OB_Rx list.
  26. Jump up^ Novartis v UoI, para 8-9
  27. Jump up^ Staff, LawyersCollective. September 6, 2011 Novartis case: background and update – Supreme Court of India to recommence hearing
  28. Jump up to:a b c R. Jai Krishna and Jeanne Whalen for the Wall Street Journal. April 1, 2013 Novartis Loses Glivec Patent Battle in India
  29. Jump up^ Application No.1602/MAS/1998
  30. Jump up^ The patent application attracted five pre-grant oppositions by M/s. Cancer Patients Aid Association, NATCO Pharma Ltd., CIPLA Ltd., Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. and Hetro Drugs Ltd. The Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs heard all the parties on December 15, 2005, as provided under rule 55 of the Patent Rules, 2003.
  31. Jump up^ Intellectual Property Appellate Board decision dated 26 June 2009, p 149
  32. Jump up^ Shamnad Basheer for Spicy IP March 11, 2006 First Mailbox Opposition (Gleevec) Decided in India
  33. Jump up^ Article 136 of the Indian Constitution
  34. Jump up to:a b "Supreme Court rejects Novartis patent plea for cancer drug Glivec".
  35. Jump up^ Novartis v UoI, para 105-108
  36. Jump up^ The Novartis Patent Intervention by Prof. Shamnad Basheer
  37. Jump up^ Novartis v UoI, Para 157
  38. Jump up^ Novartis v UoI, Para 158
  39. Jump up^ Novartis v UoI, Para 187, 188
  40. Jump up^ Novartis v UoI, Para 189, 191
  41. Jump up^ Novartis A.G. v. UOI & Ors. – Hon’ble Justice Aftab Alam’s Swansong, Rudrajyoti Nath Ray, RDA, 8 April 2013
  42. Jump up^ Novartis and Health - An analysis, Rajeev Dhavan, 11 April 2013
  43. Jump up^ Novartis v UoI, Para 24-25
  44. Jump up^ Novartis v UoI, Para 191
  45. Jump up^ Rama Lakshmi for the Washington Post April 1, 2013 India rejects Novartis drug patent
  46. Jump up to:a b c Gardiner Harris and Katie Thomas for the New York Times. April 1, 2013 Published: April 1, 2013 Top court in India rejects Novartis drug patent
  47. Jump up^ Sarah Boseley for The Guardian, April 1, 2013 Novartis patent ruling a victory in battle for affordable medicines
  48. Jump up^ Staff, BBC. April 2, 2013 Novartis case: Media hail 'key victory' for India
  49. Jump up^ "How the Indian judgment will reverberate across the world".
  50. Jump up^ "Patented drugs must be priced smartly".
  51. Jump up^ Patent with a purpose, Prof. Shamnad Basheer, Indian Express, 3 April 2013
  52. Jump up^ M Allirajan, TNN April 4, 2013 SC decision on Glivec is negative credit for branded drug firms: Moody’s
  53. Jump up^ Sampat BN et al. Challenges to India's Pharmaceutical Patent Laws Science 27 July 2012: Vol. 337 no. 6093 pp. 414-415
  54. Jump up^ Charlotte Harrison Patent watch Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 12, 336–337 (2013)
  55. Jump up^ "Supreme Court rejects bid by Novartis to patent Glivec".
  56. Jump up^ Major victory on affordable drugs
  57. Jump up^ Salve on cheaper medicine Patent blow to Big Pharma, The Telegraph
  58. Jump up^ "Drug price cut signal after court victory".
  59. Jump up^ Why Novartis case will help innovation, Achal Prabhala and Sudhir Krishnaswamy, The Hindu, 15 April 2013
  60. Jump up^ A New Template for Pharma Research, Yogesh Pai, The Hindu Business Line, 11 April 2013
  61. Jump up^ Nothing wrong with setting high standards of patentability, Srividhya Ragavan and Aju John, myLaw.net, 10 May 2013
  62. Jump up^ Shift in Novartis Strategy, The Telegraph

External links to text of judicial opinions

Novartis AG v. Union of India
Emblem of the Supreme Court of India.svg
CourtSupreme Court of India
Full case name'Novartis AG v. Union of India (UOI) and Ors.; Natco Pharma Ltd. v. UoI & Ors.; M/S Cancer Patients Aid Association v. UoI & Ors.
Decided1 April 2013
Citation(s)Civil Appeal No. 2706-2716 of 2013
Case history
Prior action(s)Application for patent by appellant denied by Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs on 25 January 2006; Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) partially reversed the decision by the Assistant Controller but still denied patent on 26 June 2009.
Holding
Upheld the rejection of the patent application (1602/MAS/1998) filed by Novartis AG for Glivec in 1998 before the Indian Patent Office.
Case opinions
MajorityMr. Justice Aftab Alam [1], joined by Ms. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai
Laws applied
Sections 2(1)(j), 2(1)(ja) and 3(d) of Indian Patent Act, 1970 (as amended in 2005)
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