Statement by India on behalf of the Asia and Pacific Group at the 24thsession of Standing Committee on the Law of Patents, delivered by Dr. Sumit Seth, First Secretary ( Economic) on 27 June 2016.
Madam Chair,
India has the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of Asia and the Pacific Group. My group would like to express its confidence in your leadership and we are hopeful that you will able to guide this 24th session of the SCP in the desired direction. 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 a balance between the rights of patent owners and the larger public interest particularly in the area of public health, technology transfer and patent related flexibilities. These flexibilities are critical for policy makers to craft and amend domestic patent laws in accordance with national development priorities and socio-economic realities.
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 :
Asia Pacific Group supports the idea that SCP should have discussions on the opposition systems, which is an importantissue in the Agenda Item six. The committee could consider devising a work programme on opposition systems that could, comprise a questionnaire survey on the different kinds of opposition mechanisms available in a country, the procedures and modalities for their use, constraints in using the opposition system effectively and how such opposition systems could be strengthened and their constraints removed.
Asia & the Pacific group is of the view that the SCP should arrive at a common understanding on what is meant by “quality of patents” – does it mean efficiency of patent offices in disposing patent applications, or does it mean the quality of patents granted that is how to ensure that patent offices do not grant patents of questionable validity.
Our group would like to request the WIPO Secretariat to provide regular information to the member States about the outcome of patent applications in different jurisdictions as well as outcomes of opposition procedures.
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 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.
