The Hindu Business Line : `Patent Act will not affect farmers' interest'

"Unlike in the West, agriculture is not business in India. It's a livelihood for a large section of the population," said Mr Ashok Jha, Secretary. Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

He was addressing an interactive session on `Amendments to the Patents Act' here on Wednesday. The session was organised by the Andhra Pradesh council of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Mr Jha said India could attract investments in research and development. The new patents regime would logically encourage more spending on research. Countries such as Japan were looking at India for their research needs. "It makes good business sense for them," he said.

Allaying fears that prices would go up, he said 97 per cent of the drugs were off patent. For the rest, alternatives were available. "Prices will be determined by market forces rather than patents themselves," he said.

On the issue of date of grant of patents, Mr Jha said granting patents retrospectively might impact Indian companies carrying out research. Hence, the decision to effect the patent from the date of granting it.

On data protection, he said the Minister of Chemicals was likely to come out with recommendations soon.

With regard to opposition to the grant of patents, he said efforts were taken to put a full-stop to endless delays. While allowing pre-grant opposition, the mechanism would allow post-grant opposition. "It will be ensured that these would be cleared in a time-bound manner," Mr Jha said.

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`Patent Act will not affect farmers' interest'