Patent Bill Passes India's Lower House

India's lower house of Parliament has passed the patents (Amendments) Bill, but not before the government failed to defeat an Opposition-sponsored motion against postponement of its discussion. Later, the motion was carried in the second stage with a margin of 14 votes.

The Opposition maintained its pressure even during the clause-by-clause consideration of the amending bill that would facilitate the filing of patent applications in line with the World Trade Organization agreement, to which India is a signatory.

A few days before the bill was adopted, the government announced duty exemptions on life-saving equipment in its 1995-96 budget proposals. This is expected to give a massive boost to health care in India. The exemptions would facilitate hospital acquisitions of equipment such as color dopplers for cardiac and other applications, dialysis machines and linear accelerators for cancer patients.