Take A Bow - Kibow!

Kibow Biotechnology (Kibow) is a US based pharmaceutical company had applied for a patent for one of its product called 'Renadyl'. The product was granted patent on the basis that it effectively pioneered the use of probiotics for enhancing kidney function and reduces the need for kidney patients to undergo dialysis. Kibow had been granted both a product patent and a process patent in India for Renadyl.

An indigenous company by the name of La Renon Healthcare, based out of Gujarat, sold a similar drug under the name 'Cudo' and filed a revocation petition at the IPAB against the patent granted to Kibow. The petition was filed on the grounds that the drug was neither an invention nor an inventive step and that the specification did not disclose any technical advancement over existing knowledge or prior art and was thus obvious to a person skilled in the subject matter. The IPAB rejected La Renon's arguments regarding the grant of patent, and stated that