Natco–Bayer Verdict: Decoding Local Working Requirement

Saha, Prabhat Kumar

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Natco–Bayer Verdict: Decoding Local Working Requirement

Economic and Political Weekly 51 (20), 61-64, 2016

4 Pages Posted: 26 May 2020

See all articles by Prabhat Kumar Saha

Prabhat Kumar Saha

Banaras Hindu University (BHU) - Faculty of Law

Date Written: May 14, 2016

Abstract

Bayer has lost its case challenging the grant of India’s first-ever compulsory licence to Natco Pharma to manufacture an affordable generic version of an anti-cancer drug, but the celebratory air has to be tempered. The issue of what constitutes “local working” of a patent in India remains, in general, unsettled. This article looks at the legality of local working requirements under the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. It also analyses the interpretations of “working” by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, and the Bombay High Court, and considers their
broader implications.

Keywords: Compulsory Licence, Compulsory Licensing, Local Working, Patents, Pharmaceutical, TRIPS, WTO.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Saha, Prabhat Kumar, Natco–Bayer Verdict: Decoding Local Working Requirement (May 14, 2016). Economic and Political Weekly 51 (20), 61-64, 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3586266