A Study On: Novartis AG v. Union Of India

Introduction:

Intellectual property is an intangible form of property while a 'Patent' is a subset of intellectual property. Granting of a patent provides a statutory right by the state to the inventor of the invention to exclude others from making, using, or selling their invention for the limited duration of 20 years. The judgment given by the two judge bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Novartis AG V. Union of India is one the landmark judgments in India. In this case Novartis challenged the rejection of its patent application by IPAB for Beta crystalline form of "Imatinib mesylate" wherein such challenge was rejected by the Supreme Court of India on the ground that the said drug did not produce an enhanced or superior therapeutic efficacy as compared to the known substance i.e., "Imatinib mesylate" means that the said drug did not involve an inventive step. One of the major reasons for rejecting the patent application of Novartis was to