Novartis loses Indian patent case

Novartis loses Indian patent case India’s Supreme Court has rejected a plea from Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceuticals group, to patent its cancer drug Glivec, in a landmark ruling that health activists say will allow India’s generics industry to keep making cheaper versions of newer medicines.

The judgment will infuriate multinational pharmaceuticals companies, already frustrated at the way India’s 2005 patent law – which New Delhi had to adopt in order to join the World Trade Organisation – has been repeatedly interpreted to permit Indian generics companies to override their patents.

http://link.ft.com/r/0QSDPP/6ADT2F/GKXE28/FKZ0NW/52JZ3K/QR/h?a1=2013&a2=4&a3=1