INDIA

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Patent Term
20 years from date of filing.
(Patents (Second Amendment) Act 2002 received presidential assent on 11 July 2002)

Permanent legislation to afford protection for pharmaceutical and agrochemical inventions was passed on 10 March 1999. Under this law, the filing of patent applications relating to substances for use as a medicine for humans or animals or agrochemicals for the preservation of plants is to be permitted but no examination of any such application is to start before December 31, 2004.

As required by TRIPS for the period before full patent rights become available, five-year exclusive marketing rights for substances of these types are provided for as long as certain requirements are met. These are that (1) a patent application for the substance has been filed in India and (2) the applicant has secured both a patent and marketing authorization for the substance in question in some other WTO country or, where the invention was made in India, the applicant has secured an Indian patent on a method for production of the substance and obtained marketing approval in India. Such exclusive rights however, do not to apply to Indian traditional medicines that are already in the public domain.

Pharmaceutical Patent Extension?
Not determined. New patent legislation under development.

Bolar Provision
Unknown.

References
http://www.ladas.com/BULLETINS/1999/0899Bulletin/India_Pharmaceuticalnvent.html
http://www.iprights.com/our_publications/alerts/pdf/Alert%20103.pdf

Prepared for IP Organisers by Dr Grace Chan, Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick - October 2002.