WTO Upholds Drug Patent Complaint Against India

An appellate body of the World Trade Organization has upheld a UScomplaint that India is violating its international property commitments by failing to establish a mechanism to comply with obligations for product patents in pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals, according to a report in the Financial Express.

The appellate body has backed the USA's claim that New Delhi has not reworked its domestic patent legislation in pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals, and has failed to establish a mandatory "mailbox" to receive new patents under Article 70.8 and 70.9 of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights. In its complaint, upheld earlier by a WTO dispute panel, the USA argued that a mailbox to receive patents must be established through changes in Indian legislation and not through an executive order, as India claimed it had.

Obligations On India To Implement Findings The appellate body's report has to be adopted within 30 days by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, unless there is a consensus against adoption, reports the Financial Express. Following this, India is required to state its intentions in respect of implementing the recommendations. If it is impractical to comply immediately, the country will be given a "reasonable period of time," to be set by the DSB, to do so.