President of India, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, approved the Patents (Amendment) Act No. 15 of 2005, on April 4, 2005, after it was passed by the Parliament.
The new amended Act provides patent protection for products in all fields of technology (i.e., drugs, food, and chemicals). Since a process patent gives the owner an exclusive right over the manufacturing process only, anyone can make and sell a particular product as long as this person uses a different process to produce it. However, a product patent prevents others from manufacturing, selling, distributing, or importing the patented product - even versions produced through different processes - without authorization.
The controversial third amendment to the Indian Patents Act of 1970 relates to India’s obligations under the global Agreement of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), adopted in 1994 as one of a package of agreements that member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) must adhere to. Under the agreement, developing countries like India have to introduce patent protection for pharmaceutical and agro-chemical products by January 1, 2005.
The Indian Patents Act has already been amended twice (in 1999 and 2002) to comply with TRIPS. According to earlier amendments, the term of patent protection has been extended from 7 to 20 years, and Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMR) are available for drugs and agro-chemicals, allowing manufacturers a monopoly over products even before their patent applications are approved.
For further information or for any inquiries, please contact Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property’s (AGIP) office in India at the following address:
HL Arcade, 3rd Floor, Plot No. 14, Sector-V (MLU) Dwarka,
New Delhi 110075, India
Tel: +91-11-2507 5770
+91-11-2507 5771
Fax: +91-11-2507 5769
E-mail: agip.india@tagi.com
Contact: Mr. Khalid Al-Khalidi