Patents and Design Act, 1970 - Salient Features & GATT Changes - Free PDF, Notes & PPT Download
This document provides a focused analysis of the Patents and Design Act, 1970, highlighting its salient features that shaped India's intellectual property landscape. Crucially, it details the significant changes made to the Patent Act following the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Agreement, particularly its implications for product patents and international trade. An indispensable resource for legal professionals, students of intellectual property law, and those interested in India's patent reform journey. Available for free download in PDF, notes, and PPT formats, or viewable online.
Keywords: Patents and Design Act 1970 salient features, Indian Patent Act 1970, GATT agreement changes, TRIPS Agreement India, Patent Law Amendments, Product Patent, Process Patent, Pharmaceutical Patents, DuloMix, Slides By DuloMix, free PDF, PPT download, patent law India, intellectual property, international trade law, WTO, legal studies, innovation policy, patent reform, compulsory licensing, public health, national interest.
The Evolution of Indian Patent Law: Salient Features of the Patents Act, 1970, and the Transformative Impact of GATT/TRIPS
The Patents Act, 1970, marked a significant milestone in India's journey towards establishing a robust and self-reliant intellectual property regime. Designed with a clear focus on public interest and fostering indigenous innovation, its original form differed considerably from the international patent landscape. However, India's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its subsequent commitment to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) necessitated profound amendments to the Act. This document explores the salient features of the original 1970 Act and the pivotal changes brought about by the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) agreement, particularly its TRIPS component.
Salient Features of the Indian Patent Act, 1970 (Original Form)
The original Patents Act, 1970, was a landmark piece of legislation that reflected India's socio-economic priorities of the time. Its key features were designed to prevent monopolies, promote local manufacturing, and ensure access to essential goods, particularly medicines. The most notable aspects included:
- Process Patent Regime for Food, Medicine, and Chemicals: Perhaps its most distinctive feature was that it allowed only process patents for inventions in the fields of food, medicine, and chemical substances. This meant that while a new method of producing a drug could be patented, the drug itself (the product) could not. This facilitated the growth of India's generic pharmaceutical industry, allowing Indian companies to manufacture cheaper versions of patented drugs using alternative processes, provided they developed a different manufacturing route.
- Compulsory Licensing Provisions: The Act included strong provisions for compulsory licensing, allowing the government to grant licenses to third parties to manufacture a patented product without the consent of the patent holder under certain conditions (e.g., if the reasonable requirements of the public were not met, or if the patent was not worked in India to an adequate extent).
- Government Use of Patented Inventions: The Act allowed the government to use patented inventions for its own purposes or for public purposes, subject to certain conditions.
- Focus on "Working the Patent": There was a strong emphasis on patents being "worked" (manufactured) in India, rather than merely imported, to ensure local industrial development and technology transfer.
- Exclusions from Patentability: Certain inventions, such as methods of agriculture or horticulture, computer programs "per se", and methods of medical treatment, were explicitly excluded from patentability.
- Term of Patent: The term of a patent was 14 years from the date of filing for process patents and 5 or 7 years (depending on the type of invention) for product patents in other sectors, with a maximum of 14 years.
These features made the Indian Patent Act, 1970, unique and often dubbed a "development-oriented" patent law.
Changes Made in the Patent Act Following GATT Agreement (TRIPS)
India became a signatory to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1948 and subsequently a founding member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. A key part of the WTO agreements is the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which established minimum standards for intellectual property protection for all WTO member countries. TRIPS required India to make significant changes to its Patents Act, leading to amendments in 1999, 2002, and most notably in 2005.
The most crucial changes made to the Indian Patent Act, primarily driven by the TRIPS Agreement, include:
- Introduction of Product Patents for All Fields of Technology: This was the most significant change. From January 1, 2005, India began granting product patents in all fields of technology, including pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. This meant that a new drug molecule itself could be patented, not just its manufacturing process. This brought India's patent regime in line with global standards but raised concerns about drug accessibility.
- Increased Patent Term: The term of a patent was uniformly extended to 20 years from the date of filing for all categories of inventions, in line with TRIPS requirements.
- Provisions for Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMRs): As an interim measure before the full implementation of product patents (from 1995 to 2005), India introduced EMRs for pharmaceutical and agrochemical products that had received product patent protection in a WTO member country, to provide some protection during the transition period.
- Amendment of Section 3(d): This section was amended to specifically exclude "mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance" from patentability. This provision, often referred to as the "anti-evergreening" clause, was introduced to prevent minor modifications to existing drugs from receiving new patents, thereby delaying the entry of generics.
- Expansion of Non-Patentable Subject Matter: While TRIPS set minimum standards, India retained and refined its list of non-patentable inventions, such as methods of medical treatment or diagnosis, and plants and animals (excluding micro-organisms).
- Streamlining of Compulsory Licensing: While compulsory licensing provisions were retained, they were refined to comply with TRIPS, ensuring they could only be invoked under specific conditions (e.g., national emergency, public non-commercial use, or when the patent is not worked in India to an adequate extent, or is not available at an affordable price).
These amendments transformed the Indian patent landscape, balancing international obligations with national interests, particularly in the crucial pharmaceutical sector, and continue to shape India's role as a global innovation hub and a key player in generic drug production.
Info!
If you are the copyright owner of this document and want to report it, please visit the copyright infringement notice page to submit a report.
