“My entire office is exposed to the world,” says Chaitanya Prasad, not displaying the strain of his high profile office.

As Controller General, he heads the office that issues patents, designs and trademarks, besides being the registrar of geographical indications that protects products identified with a region, like the Darjeeling Tea or Pochampally Ikat.

Compulsory licence The Patent Controller General’s office stands silent and tall at Antop Hill, on the eastern fringes of the island city Mumbai — far from the acrimonious discussions that follow some of its decisions.

Not only do these decisions trigger local debates between trade and civil society, but at times, they take the form of full-fledged trade standoffs with countries, as is being witnessed between India and the US. In fact, Prasad took charge on one such day in March 2012, when India issued its first compulsory licence on Nexavar, an advanced kidney cancer drug from Bayer.

The CL issued to Natco Pharma allowed the Hyderabad-based company to make its version of the drug at 97 per cent less than the innovator-drug’s price on the payment of royalty. The decision still causes much heartburn for several foreign trade lobbies.

Monopoly factor Despite the debates on decisions taken by his office, Prasad says his efforts are directed at making the Patent Office less intimidating and more accessible to customers.

Prasad is of the opinion that the 10 per cent price discount on online filings over manual ones is paving the way for round-the-clock filing by individuals and small businesses.

Besides facilitating transparency, the initiative also weeds out scope for corruption and errors that could creep in while digitising manual documents, he explains. Even status updates on patent filings are available, he adds.

Patents grant an innovator 20 years of exclusivity to make and market a product. But, when the product is a medicine, public health workers fear such monopolies could make the medicine more expensive for patients.

Balance is imperative People can also check the “working of a patent” for CL opportunities, Prasad explains. Companies are required to “work” their patents and service the local market.

Failing this, a third party could seek a CL from the Patent Controller to make the same drug. And this was pretty much how the first CL was issued on Bayer’s Nexavar. “We realise IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) are beneficial for innovation, but there needs to be a balance between the rights of an innovator and a company with the rights of the citizen,” says Prasad.

Twenty per cent of the disease burden is in India and the country needs to think about that, he adds.

Responding to demands on his office to provide more information, he counters that the amount of information on the Web site was like no other in the country. But in certain cases, “we are duty bound by the law to take a fee,” he explains.

International search The Indian Patent Office is also taking global strides as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

India is one of 17 countries recognised as an ISA-IPEA and its Patent Office can provide citizens of any country good quality International Search Reports (ISR) at reduced prices, he says.

Iran has already notified India as one of the ISA/IPEAs to which its citizens can send their search requests, he said, adding that they have met Iranian representatives in Geneva to sort out any problems that their citizens may have. The Patent Office has already issued over 200 ISRs for Indian citizens as well.

Back home though, about 43,000 patent applications have been filed up to March 2014. The scale continues to tip in favour of foreign applicants.

Research needs to be encouraged at the school level, says the Patent Controller, where children are taught to question, hypothesise and analyse. Only then would the country be able to promote innovations that stem from India, he concludes, on an optimistic note.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW