Which provision of the Indian Patents Act is used to prevent the evergreening of pharmaceutical patents?
- A.Section 3(d)
- B.Section 11A
- C.Section 84
- D.Section 107A
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Section 3(d). It provides that the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance is not an invention, and therefore cannot be patented; the Supreme Court applied it in the Novartis case concerning a cancer drug. Option B is wrong because Section 11A deals with the publication of applications after eighteen months. Option C is wrong because Section 84 provides for a compulsory licence three years after the grant of a patent, a different safeguard aimed at availability and price rather than at the grant itself. Option D is wrong because Section 107A is the Bolar provision and the parallel import provision, which allows acts done for regulatory approval before the patent expires.
Read the full article: Intellectual Property Rights in India: Acts and Terms
Practice Questions
View allIn India, a patent is granted for a term of how many years from the date of filing?
- A.Ten years
- B.Fourteen years
- C.Twenty years
- D.Sixty years
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Under the Patents Act of 1970 as amended, a patent in India runs for twenty years from the date of filing of the application, a term fixed in line with the minimum standard laid down by the TRIPS agreement of the World Trade Organization, and renewal fees must be paid…
Read the full explanation →Which Act governs patents in India?
- A.The Patents Act, 1970
- B.The Copyright Act, 1957
- C.The Designs Act, 2000
- D.The Trade Marks Act, 1999
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It replaced the Indian Patents and Designs Act of 1911 on the recommendations of the Ayyangar Committee, allowed only process patents in medicines and food at first, and was amended in 1999, 2002 and 2005 to meet the obligations India accepted at the World Trade Organization.
Read the full explanation →Copyright in a literary work in India subsists for the lifetime of the author and how many years thereafter?
- A.Twenty years
- B.Fifty years
- C.Sixty years
- D.Seventy years
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Under the Copyright Act of 1957, copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work lasts for the life of the author and sixty years counted from the beginning of the year following the year of death, after which the work enters the public domain.
Read the full explanation →Which product was the first in India to receive a geographical indication tag?
- A.Basmati rice
- B.Darjeeling tea
- C.Mysore silk
- D.Nagpur orange
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Darjeeling tea, grown on the hill slopes of the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, was the first product registered under the Geographical Indications of Goods Registration and Protection Act of 1999 after the Act came into force, and the Tea Board of India holds the registration.
Read the full explanation →Where is the headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organization?
- A.Geneva
- B.Paris
- C.New York
- D.Vienna
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The World Intellectual Property Organization was set up by a convention signed in 1967, became a specialised agency of the United Nations in 1974, and has its headquarters at Geneva in Switzerland, where it administers the Paris and Berne Conventions, the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Madrid system.
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