An Indian online forum on intellectual property rights has reportedly called for more transparency in the country's patent system and for information to be more easily accessible. A petition in this regard has been launched with the Indian patent authorities.
The recently launched online petition follows an earlier petition submitted at the end of 2007. Following that, the Indian patent authorities had then said that the complete database with searchable patent information, including patent specifications and decisions, would be available online by March 2009.
The deadline has, however, not been met. The second petition calls for more patent-related information to be made public. This includes all correspondence between a patent applicant and the patent office; patent office circulars that impact patentability; clear patent titles and abstracts; corresponding patent applications elsewhere; and amendments made by the applicant from time to time to address issues raised by opponents challenging a patent.
A key part of information being sought by the petition relates to 'working' statements - whether a firm that has been granted a patent for a drug is actually making the drug. These statements are supposed to be filed by the patentee with the Indian patent office. According to Indian patent laws, a firm that has been granted a patent for a drug in India must also make it in India for the next three years. Or else the drug is eligible for compulsory licensing.
The groups are also asking for the Indian government to build public-private partnerships with the ICT sector in India. This will help to build a better e-filing system and other innovative ICT tools to aid a more efficient administration of the Indian patent office.
The petition reportedly attracted 100 signatories after the first day, including pharmaceutical companies, patent attorneys, students from the Max Planck Institute and the Carnegie Mellon Institute, and global not-for-profit organisations such as the Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge that promotes technical assistance on IPR issues to governments, campaigns against unsound pharmaceutical patents and promotes access to drugs.
