Health

Indian Court Rejects Novartis’ Legal Challenge

By Dweep Chanana ⋅ August 6, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

The Chennai High Court has just announced its decision on the case brought by Novartis against the Indian Patent Act. The Court rejected Novartis’ challenge saying that it has no jurisdiction on the matter.

The news has received near blanket coverage (covered in IHT, Forbes, as well as SciDev, MSF). Interestingly, Novartis has suggested it will not appeal the decision.

“We disagree with this ruling however we likely will not appeal to the Supreme Court,” a Novartis spokeswoman said by phone from Basel in Switzerland.

This decision is significant both for what it does and for what it does not do.

Novartis’ case asserted that the Indian Patent Act violated rules of the WTO. In the short term it is good news for supporters of generic medicines. It may not, however, be so good for the intellectual property regime in general, because it leaves the status of the IPA in limbo. Novartis had essentially challenged the TRIPS flexibilities made available to developing countries under the Doha Declaration. By sidestepping the issue of the legality of the IPA, the Court has not provided any guidance and left open the door for further challenges.

The court’s issue of jurisdiction also weakens India’s ability to pass national laws that benefit the public interest. The decision gives jurisdiction of public health concerns to a multi-lateral forum which is designed not for the dispensation of justice but for international negotiations and bargaining. This is in sharp contrast to the US’ approach, which has categorically and repeatedly refused to accept the jurisdiction of multilateral institutions on issues of national interest, including human rights and criminal law.

This post has been updated since its original publication. A further update is now available on Desicritics.org.