India's drugmakers apply for IP protection

Evidence of a shift in the intellectual property rights climate in India can be found in newly-reported figures on patent applications at the Indian Patent Office. From 1995 to 2004, before the present patent legislation was introduced (Marketletters passim), 40% of applications for IP protection with the agency came from domestic firms. Ranbaxy Laboratories, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Cipla, three of the world's major generic drug producers, have filed more than 100 patent applications each, according to India's Economic Times newspaper. In 2006 alone, Ranbaxy applied for 30 patents.

The significance of the numbers reported by the IPO are disputed by Carlos Correa, a former member of the World Health Organization's Commission on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Public Health. Prof Correa described the bulk of the IP applications as "new laboratory techniques" instead of significant advances.

However, India changed its legislation in an effort to become more compliant with World Trade Organization standards in 2005, the extent of which is the subject of an ongoing law suit involving Swiss drug major Novartis' oncology product Glivec/Gleevec (imatinib mesylate; Marketletters passim). The Economic Times reports that this development has triggered a "rush" to claim IP protection by both foreign and locally-based drugmakers.