Consultation on the Examination of Pharmaceutical Patents

12th – 13th December 2007 • Co-organised with Centre for Trade and Development (CENTAD); World Health Organisation (WHO)

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The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centre for Trade and Development (CENTAD) have organized a Dialogue on the “Examination of Pharmaceutical Patents: Developing Public Health Perspectives” on the 13-14 December in New Delhi, India. Participants will include government, industry, IO, and NGO representatives and experts on the subject.

The event will attempt to address the broader issue of developing criteria for the grant of drug patents, specifically balancing protection of intellectual property rights and concerns of access to health. The consultation will focus on the various types of claims that subsist in the context of pharmaceutical patents. The event will also examine the mechanisms for examination of pharmaceutical patents from a public health perspective.

There has been increasing interest about how international trade agreements and intellectual property rights can limit access to medicines. The interaction between trade, IP, and access to medicines has led to the adoption of the Doha Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. This Declaration affirmed that the TRIPS Agreement should be interpreted and implemented in a manner that allows for countries to take measures that protect public health and promote access to medicines.

Patents, and IPRs, are often said to promote innovation and R&D of new medicines, but evidence shows that patents on genuinely new pharmaceutical products is limited. The majority of patents are granted to cover modifications to existing drugs. Similarly, the majority of pharmaceutical R&D today focuses on variations, not on the development of new entities. Changes regarding production and patenting of medicines will have large effects on the pharmaceutical industry and patent system.

Participants will place the discussion of patents in the context of public health and specifically the balance between IP protection and access to medicine. Also discussed will be TRIPS versus local flexibilities, and typical claims made during patenting of pharmaceutical products. Experiences and problems in Developed Countries will be presented and participants will also look at mechanisms that could enhance the examination of pharmaceutical patenting. The mechanisms include the opportunity for pre- and post-grant opposition to patents and rules and procedures of the examination of patent-applicants’ products.

List of Participants
Feroz Ali, Advocate
Arvind Bansal, NIPER
Kajal Bhardwaj, Lawyer
Manoj Chauhan, Human Rights Law Network
Adithyakrishna Chintapanti, Centad
Prof. Suchart Chongprasert, Food and Drug Administration, Thailand
Kieran Clancy, Human Rights Law Network
Carlos Correa, University of Buenos Aires
Kasturi Das, Centad
Deepu M, JNU
Biswajit Dhar, Centre for WTO Studies
Ms. Farida, Office of Intellectual Property Rights, Indonesia
K.M Gopakumar, Centad
Julie George, Lawyers Collective
Rohan K. George, Centad
Anand Grover, Lawyers Collective
Miranda House, Ravindra Jha
Aradhna Johri, Joint Secretary MOHFW
Reji K Joseph, WTO Centre, IIFT
K S Kardam, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
B.K Keayla, National Working Group on Patent Laws
Rajendra Mehrotra , MoHFW
Leena Menghaney , MSF Access Campaign
Joe Mathew, Business Standard
Anirban Mazumdar, National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS)
Bhavya Mehta, Global Institute of Intellectual Property
Nishara Mendis, University of Colombo
Gopakumar Nair, Gopakumar Nair Associates
Baburam Parajuli, Dept of Industries, Nepal
Chan Park, Lawyers Collective
D.P.S Parmar, Government of India
Manusika Rai, EDP,Bhutan
T. Ramakrishna, NLSIU, Bangalore
Amit Sengupta, Delhi Science Forum
Mira Shiva,
K Ravi Srinivas, RIS
Sadhana Srivastava, ADG, ICMR
Nirmalya Syam, Centad
Karin Timmermans, WHO
Gina Vea, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
Prof. German Velasquez, World Health Organization
Niel Unamboowe, Attorney General’s Office, Colombo
V.K Unni, Nalsar, University of Law, Hyderabad
Vinod P V, Advocate