Bayer Corporation (Bayer) challenged the order(s) of 2012 and 2013 passed by the relevant statutory authority, the Controller of Patents (the Controller), granting a Compulsory License to Natco Pharmaceuticals Limited (Natco) of the drug Nexavar. Bayer developed the drug to treat patients suffering from kidney cancer. In 2008, the Controller granted a patent to Bayer …Read more

In 1998, Novartis AG, a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Switzerland, filed a patent application in India for the beta-crystalline form of imatinib mesylate, a drug used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia, a type of blood cancer. In 2005, the Chennai Patent office heard patent oppositions to this application, including one filed by the Cancer …Read more

Aventis, a pharmaceutical company, applied for a preliminary injunction against infringement of its patent on its cancer drug Taxotere in order to restrain Cipla, an Indian pharmaceutical company, from importing, manufacturing or selling Cipla’s generic equivalent of the drug. Prior to this, Cipla had applied for revocation of Aventis’ amended patent on a number of …Read more

The petitioners were Kenyan citizens living with HIV/AIDS. They petitioned seeking a declaration that the fundamental rights of life, human dignity and health as protected and envisaged by the Constitution, encompassed access to affordable and essential drugs and medicines, including generic HIV/AIDS drugs. The petitioners also sought a declaration that the Anti-Counterfeit Act, 2008 and …Read more

The Petitioners were citizens of Kenya living with HIV. They claimed that provisions of the Anti-Counterfeiting Act, 2008 (the Act) severely restricted access to affordable, essential medicines, including generic medicines for HIV-related diseases, in violation of their fundamental rights to life, dignity and health protected under articles 26(1), 28 and 43 of the Constitution of …Read more

This case was an unconstitutionality action brought by the Guatemalan Association of Pharmacists and Chemists et al. challenging the Liberalization of Importation of Medicines Act. The claimants argued that the Act’s elimination of requirements for imported medicines such as expiration dates, instructions in Spanish, and required government testing violated constitutional competition provisions, intellectual property and …Read more

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) raided Roma Drug and five other drug stores at the request of SmithKline Beecham Research Limited (SmithKline), the authorized local distributor for its London-based parent company. In the raid, the NBI and BFAD seized several imported medicines sold by the drug …Read more

The Plaintiffs were the owners of the patented cancer-drug Erlotinib. Erlotinib is a Quinazolin derivative and destroys some types of cancer cells with little secondary effects. The Defendant announced that it was going to sell a generic version of Erlotinib in India and in foreign markets. The Plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction to stop the …Read more

This case has been reviewed by the Supreme Court, which upheld this court’s verdict. The Petitioner, Novartis, had its patent application rejected by the relevant statutory authority, the Controller General of Patents and Designs (Patent Controller) because did not comply with the requirements of section 3(d) of the Indian Patent (Amendment) Act, 2005 (the Act). …Read more