Ever Greening of Patents: A Study on Legal Position in India
Pharmaceutical sector is a lifeline for the human population, which suffers from a variety of diseases and health problems. The pharmaceutical sector has a divine obligation to safeguard the health and best interests of patients. Patent protection for a limited length of time incentivizes the time and resources devoted to the development of pharmaceuticals so that corporations can profit from them. In certain instances, however, avarice trumps the obligation of open and fair transfer of information to the public domain, and pharma corporations resort to techniques such as the evergreening of patents to extend the duration of patent protection. Novartis Case which sent shockwaves throughout the world regarding the interpretation of evergreening provisions in India is analyzed at length. This paper examines the notion of patent evergreening and its status in India with a comparative analysis.
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