Country Reports April 05, 2007

Country Reports – 5 April 2007

img-51 Country: INDIA Period of Report: April 2007
  1. India’s Union Cabinet approved on February 8, 2007, the country’s accession to Madrid Protocol. The government would shortly amend the Indian Trademarks Act of 1999 to enable India’s accession to the Protocol.
  2. The Government has appointed Mr. S. Chandrasekaran as the Technical Member (Patents) of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, Chennai. With Mr. Chandrasekaran having assumed the charge from April 2, 2007 the Appellate Board has become operational.
  3. The government’s notification of the technical member for IPAB assumes significance in the backdrop of the case filed by Novartis against Section 3 (d) of Indian Patent Act. According to Section 3(d) of Indian Patent Law, without having any significant efficacy, any new use or a new variant of an old substance cannot be patented. On this basis, the Chennai Patent Office had rejected Novartis’ patent application for anti-leukemia drug, Glivec. The company, subsequently, moved the Madras High Court. According to Section 117 (G) of the Patents Act, all patent-related cases should be heard by the board and hence the Novartis case would be transferred to the IPAB.
  4. Government of India to withdraw the reports submitted by the Committee on Patent Law headed by Dr. R.A. Mashelkar under grounds of ‘technical inaccuracy and plagiarism’.
  5. International Property Rights Index (IPRI) which measures seventy countries’ performance in the protection of both physical and intellectual property and shows the direct effect of these institutions on economic well-being ranks India 32.
img-52 Country: PAKISTAN Period of Report: April 2007
  1. International Property Rights Index (IPRI) which measures seventy countries’ performance in the protection of both physical and intellectual property and shows the direct effect of these institutions on economic well-being ranks Pakistan 58.
img-53 Country: BANGLADESH Period of Report: April 2007
  1. The government plans to increase fee for patent and design registration fees.
  2. International Property Rights Index (IPRI) which measures seventy countries’ performance in the protection of both physical and intellectual property and shows the direct effect of these institutions on economic well-being ranks Bangladesh 69.