Patents are ‘intellectual property rights’, not ‘muscle-based’ or ‘First-World based’...
When winning and losing is a matter of an idea, its protection becomes the paramount for any corporation whose fortune is dependent on it. And this is where ‘patents’ enter. However, at times, this motive of safeguarding an idea becomes more of an obesession, the recent issue involving Dr. Reddy’s Labs (DRL) is a case in point.
On January 14, 2009, a DRL consignment of drug losartan, valued at $500,000 (Rs.24 million), was seized by custom officials in the Netherlands. The justification behind the act given by custom officials was on grounds of “patent infringment”. So what was the reason behind the seizure? Well, in the Netherlands, the patent for the drug is held by DuPont (under the Cozaar drug brand), and therefore when the drug, which is used for treatment of high-blood pressure entered the Dutch borders, it was legally seized. However, a day later, under justification that the drug was headed for Brazil, the seized consignment was released.
This was not the first time that Indian generic exports have been shown the red signal by usage of patent litigation rights. One of the biggest names in the Indian pharma industry, Ranbaxy has already found itself in such an involvement with the cholesterol-reducing drug Lipitor. Pfizer, another Swiss drug major fired all cylinders to retain its monopoly on a multi-billion dollar drug whose sales were estimated to be $14.2 billion during 2007 alone. So which way did the final decision bend? Obviously Pfizer, for wasn’t it already a renowned First World name? Yes, the truth is different from what is presented before the law. ‘Anti-competitive’ theories and forces play the biggest role in the mental makeup of such law suit and many such patent litigation charges, more so in the developing nations, where costs in all quarters are lower, thereby promising better (lower) pricing to the drug, and rendering a comparative drug from a First World brand redundant!
When winning and losing is a matter of an idea, its protection becomes the paramount for any corporation whose fortune is dependent on it. And this is where ‘patents’ enter. However, at times, this motive of safeguarding an idea becomes more of an obesession, the recent issue involving Dr. Reddy’s Labs (DRL) is a case in point.
On January 14, 2009, a DRL consignment of drug losartan, valued at $500,000 (Rs.24 million), was seized by custom officials in the Netherlands. The justification behind the act given by custom officials was on grounds of “patent infringment”. So what was the reason behind the seizure? Well, in the Netherlands, the patent for the drug is held by DuPont (under the Cozaar drug brand), and therefore when the drug, which is used for treatment of high-blood pressure entered the Dutch borders, it was legally seized. However, a day later, under justification that the drug was headed for Brazil, the seized consignment was released.
This was not the first time that Indian generic exports have been shown the red signal by usage of patent litigation rights. One of the biggest names in the Indian pharma industry, Ranbaxy has already found itself in such an involvement with the cholesterol-reducing drug Lipitor. Pfizer, another Swiss drug major fired all cylinders to retain its monopoly on a multi-billion dollar drug whose sales were estimated to be $14.2 billion during 2007 alone. So which way did the final decision bend? Obviously Pfizer, for wasn’t it already a renowned First World name? Yes, the truth is different from what is presented before the law. ‘Anti-competitive’ theories and forces play the biggest role in the mental makeup of such law suit and many such patent litigation charges, more so in the developing nations, where costs in all quarters are lower, thereby promising better (lower) pricing to the drug, and rendering a comparative drug from a First World brand redundant!
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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