The following is excerpted from a November 4, 2009 article at the Bangkok Post:
India accused the European Union Wednesday of violating WTO norms by confiscating generic drugs made by Indian pharmaceutical companies, a report said.
The latest incident, which occurred October 19, related to the seizure by French customs officials of copycat anti-clotting tablets made by a Mumbai firm, the Press Trust of India said.
Shipment of the drug, clopidogrel, was destined for Venezuela, the news agency said. The customs authorities who seized the tablets alleged patent infringement.
"It (the confiscation of drugs) is a violation of existing WTO norms when it comes to shipments meant for a third country destination that are seized,'' Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said, according to the news agency.
India mostly exports off-patent generic drugs in conformity with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
This was the 18th time generic drugs meant for developing countries had been confiscated during transit within the EU, although the manufacture of the drug in India and sale in the destination country were legal, Indian officials said.
Read the full article here.
Some have pointed out that the legal provisions supporting these EU seizures were originally intended to halt the flow of illegal drugs, not to prevent people in developing countries from receiving low-cost, life-saving treatment. Using patent infringement as a pretext to do so could potentially constitute an abuse of the patent system. This issue is sure to heat up if the EU persists in these seizures.
http://www.GeneralPatent.com
Posted by: Gena777 | November 12, 2009 at 11:18 AM