- In 2005, to counter evergreening of patents by pharma companies, the government of India tweaked the Patent Act, 1970.
- A new section, Section 3(d) was inserted which said:
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 cannot be given patent protection
Example of its implementation
- In 2013, Swiss pharma giant, Novartis, was denied the patent for a new version of its cancer drug - Gleevec/Glivec.
- They claimed that the new version could be more easily absorbed into the bloodstream - saving more lives.
Related Notes
- Evergreening of patents by pharma companies
- How are pharma companies incentivised to innovate and burn money