First Publication Date: 18th January 2010
The Appellants, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (“Roche”), the Licensor of a patent relating to the drug Erlotinib used for cancer treatment and OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. (`OSI'), the holder of the patent of the said drug, filed an infringement suit against the Respondent, Cipla Ltd. (“Cipla”). The Appellants filed an application for temporary injunction during the pendency of the suit, which was rejected by the Single Judge and therefore, filed this appeal.
After hearing both the parties,…
After intense negotiations between the United States and the Group of Least-Developed Countries, the World Trade Organization committee on intellectual property rights finally decided to extend a waiver allowing LDCs from applying and enforcing IP rights on pharmaceutical products until 2033. The consensus among the World Trade Organisation (WTO) members over extension of waivers in respect of pharmaceutical patents for the least developed countries (LDCs) is being held as a major breakthrough in the world of pharmaceutical patents.
Following the…
Mark Twain once said “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please”. How is this relevant to this Compulsory Licensing post here? You need to read on to discover that.
The history of Compulsory Licensing can be traced back to the UK Statute of Monopolies in 1624, which ruled out monopolies associated with patent, and stated that grants should not be mischievous to the State‘ or hurt trade. The UK recognized compulsory licensing in terms of…
Pharmaceutical industries seem to be making headlines this season. Over the past few weeks there have been numerous news reports with respect to the pharmaceutical industry, SiNApSE alone has covered many of these in its earlier blog posts. The issues range from rejection of patent applications based on the ever so controversial section 3(d) as observed in the case of Pfizer’s drug “Tofacitinib” to the resurrection of the nightmare of many pharmaceutical companies, namely “the COMPULSORY LICENSE” as seen in…