US patent lobby to meet Indian judiciary, patent officials: Conflict of interest?

In a glaring instance of conflict of interest many pharmaceutical MNC representatives from the US will be meeting members of judicial tribunals and higher judiciary and officers who are dealing with intellectual property (IP) cases of these companies on a visit to India next week. A delegation from US-based Intellectual Property Owners' Association (IPOA) comprising pharmaceutical MNCs among others, many of whom have intellectual property or patent dispute cases filed against the Indian government and Indian pharma companies will be visiting India from November 16-21 Stock Market Trading Tips

The delegation plans to meet and interact with intellectual property office (IPO) officials, Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) members, judiciary and judicial staff of high courts and the Supreme Court justices, or in short, all those who can influence or who have a bearing on the cases they are fighting in India. Civil society has expressed concern about these industry representatives being given access to IPAB and IPO in Chennai and Delhi and the judiciary Nifty Trading Tips

"The intellectual Property Office is a quasi judicial body which conducts hearings and takes decisions on whether to grant a patent or not. Most dangerous is their visit to IPAB, which is a judicial tribunal and decides the appeals coming out of the decisions of the patent office. Many delegates' companies have filed appeals too. Interested parties being allowed to approach them directly is against the interest of justice and raises serious questions of conflict of interest," said K M Gopakumar of Third World Network. For instance, Roche, an IPOA member, has its case is in Delhi high court, so how can they visit Delhi high court and meet the judges or staff, he asked Free Share Trading Tips

IPOA is a trade association representing companies and individuals in all industries and fields of technology who own or are interested in intellectual property rights and it represents a substantial number of patent applications filed not only in the US but also in the Indian Patent Office. According to the IPOA website its mission is to serve the global intellectual property community. IPOA describes the India visit as "a unique opportunity to share experiences and perspectives with patent practitioners and the judiciary of India on intellectual property practice".

This is not the first time that IPOA and the US industry, especially pharma, has tried to influence the way India's patent offices and judiciary interpret India's patent law, hailed as one of the most progressive when it comes to balancing public interests with patent protection Intraday Trading Tips

In 2011, Justice Dalveer Bhandari had been forced to recuse from hearing a case regarding the patentability of Novartis' anti-cancer drug Glivec after health activists protested saying he had participated in at least two international conferences for judges, one in 2007 in Washington and another in 2011 in Brussels, organized by IPOA, whose members include Novartis, among a host of pharmaceutical and IT giants.

In 2010, a judges' roundtable on intellectual rights property adjudication was jointly organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Maharashtra State Judicial Academy. Health rights activists protested pointing out that FICCI and Confederation of Industry (CII) are primarily industry associations known for lobbying to protect industry interests, including strong IP protection. These meetings and conferences disguised as harmless educational events, have been criticised for giving a skewed view on IP protection conveying only the industry's views and interests without anyone to represent public interest, in a bid to influence judges and law and policy makers dealing with intellectual property cases Commodity Trading Tips

Though India complied with its World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement to introduce patents protection for 20 years on medicines, since India produces life-saving generic medicines for its own people and the entire developing world, Parliament included several health safeguards in the law, including provisions like section 3(d) to prevent companies from seeking patent extensions by tweaking existing drugs. Many IPOA member-companies have constantly challenged these safeguards by filing cases against the government. Till now, the Indian judiciary and patent offices have, by and large, upheld the public health safeguards in the Indian patent law Financial Astrology trading Tips

The progressive judgements that have tried to balance public interest and access to medicines with the private interest of patent holders has been a cause of much unhappiness among US MNCs especially the pharmaceutical companies who have been focusing on judicial training, training of patent office ad drug control officials in a bid to influence how they deal with patent applications. Against this backdrop, the impending visit of the IPOA delegation and their access to judiciary and patent officials has become a matter of concern among public health activists Personal Numerology Trading Tips