1. Novartis abandons patent application in India: The business standard thinks that this could be prompted by fears of a Glivec type rejection and reports that: “Swiss pharma major Novartis has chosen not to pursue the patent application for its AIDS drug Atazanavir in India after the patent was declared “abandoned” even as it continues to fight for the licence rights of its cancer drug Glivec in the Indian patent office.” 2. Eli Lilly loses patent over osteoporosis drug: CH…

There are valuable lessons that patent professionals can learn from the Novartis (Glivec) Patent Saga. The Hindu Business Line carried an interview with me in this regard. For those interested, please click here. I also attach the note that I passed on to them below: “Recently, in a legal dispute involving the patentability of Novartis’s famed anticancer drug, Gleevec, the Madras High Court ruled that section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act was constitutional. It also ruled that it did…

A couple of more news reports have emerged on the threat by Novartis to move its investments to China, in the wake of the Glivec patent litigation. In an earlier post, SpicyIP had noted: “Evoking the name of China is a clever move and one aimed at jolting our Ministers and bureaucrats into action. I couldn’t help being amused at the paradox though. China’s IP regime being lauded by an MNC?? The sun must have risen in the West today!!…