Monday, April 01, 2013

Novartis AG vs. Union of India and Others

For the text of the judgment of the Supreme Court of India in the Novartis patent case - try this link, it should download you a PDF file.

Without knowing anything about the case, if the patent application is for something new, then the patent cannot cover the old as well.  That is, if there is a new formulation of a drug, then either the new formulation is indeed new, and should be granted a patent, but that patent cannot cover the old formulation of the drug.   If the patent application claims that the patent covers the old formulation of the drug as well, then the patent is not for something new, and should not be granted.