Permanent Mission of India Geneva
Statement by India on behalf of the Asia and Pacific Group at the 23rd session of Standing Committee on the Law of Patents.
Madam Chair,
India has the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of Asia and the Pacific Group. We are happy to see you again chairing this important session of SCP. My group has full confidence in your leadership. The group would like to put on record its appreciation for the hard work put in by the secretariat in preparation for this meeting including organising informal consultations among Regional Coordinators.
Madam Chair,
The work of this committee is critical in creating an equilibrium between the rights of patent owners and the larger public interest particularly in the area of public health, technology transfer and patentrelated flexibilities. T hese flexibilities could be critical for policy makers to craft and amend domestic patent laws in accordance with national development priorities and socio-economic realities.
Our group look forward to listening to the views of the experts on Patent Systems and its relationship on the availability of Medicines in Developing Countries and LDCs. The optimal balance between patent rights and the right to health is essential. The differential levels of social, economic and technological development among member states cannot be ignored.
Madam Chair
TRIPS flexibilities take into consideration these differences and plays an important role in achieving the requisite balance. It allows governments - especially in countries with limited resources - the necessary policy space to meet their health needs and at the same time foster innovation. Members of the Asia and the Pacific group would be happy to participate and contribute towards a productive discussion on this important developmental issue.
Madam Chair,
We are hopeful that exchange of Member States’ Experiences and Case Studies on the Effectiveness of Exceptions and Limitations in the current session will provide guidance to improve and further enhance the efficiency of the current patent system in a manner sensitive to the diverse needs.
Our group would like to request the Secretariat to continue updating the study and also invite submissions from research institutions, civil society organisations and domestic industries in the developing countries so that they can share their practical experiences on effective use of the exceptions and limitations to patent rights under their relevant national legislations.
Madam Chair,
Our group would like the Secretariat to revise the feasibility study and address the question about feasibility of disclosure of INNs - International Nonproprietary Names in patent applications specifically where the INN is known to the applicant.
Madam Chair
Our group supports the proposal of GRULAC on the Revision of the 1979 WIPO Model Law for Developing Countries on Inventions i.e. document number SCP/22/5. The revision of the aforementioned Model Law should emphasize legislative and policy options for the member states.This agenda item by no means is at a lesser level of priority even when it is described as “other items”. This agenda item should be given equal importance as the other six substantive agenda items.
Madam Chair
Members of the Group will intervene in their national capacity on specific agenda items. We look forward to a productive session under your able guidance.
I thank you once again for this opportunity.
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