Delhi HC dismisses Cipla's plea against single judge order
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today said it is not necessary that for a patent to be worked in India, the product in question must be manufactured in the country.
The observation by the court came while dismissing Indian pharma company Cipla's bid to make and sell a generic version of Swiss drug major Novartis' patented respiratory disease medicine Indacaterol without a compulsory licence.
Cipla had contended that Novartis was not working its patent in India and was only importing small quantities of its drug, marketed under the name of Onbrez through its licencee Lupin.
"We are of the view that it is not at all necessary that for a patent to be worked in India, the product in question must be manufactured in India," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said.
The court dismissed Cipla's appeal against a single judge order restraining the it from selling its respiratory disease drug - Indaflo, till it obtains a compulsory licence.
"After considering the submissions for all the parties and examining the relevant papers, we are of the view that the injunction granted by single judge ought not to be disturbed," the bench said.
It also observed, "We cannot make a definitive conclusion as to whether the extent of imports is not sufficient for meeting the demands of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in India.
"This would be a matter of evidence which can only be thrashed out in the course of a trial. We may also point out that apart from Indacaterol, there are other drugs which deal with the management of COPD which are also available in the Indian market."
The observation by the court came while dismissing Indian pharma company Cipla's bid to make and sell a generic version of Swiss drug major Novartis' patented respiratory disease medicine Indacaterol without a compulsory licence.
Cipla had contended that Novartis was not working its patent in India and was only importing small quantities of its drug, marketed under the name of Onbrez through its licencee Lupin.
"We are of the view that it is not at all necessary that for a patent to be worked in India, the product in question must be manufactured in India," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said.
The court dismissed Cipla's appeal against a single judge order restraining the it from selling its respiratory disease drug - Indaflo, till it obtains a compulsory licence.
"After considering the submissions for all the parties and examining the relevant papers, we are of the view that the injunction granted by single judge ought not to be disturbed," the bench said.
It also observed, "We cannot make a definitive conclusion as to whether the extent of imports is not sufficient for meeting the demands of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in India.
"This would be a matter of evidence which can only be thrashed out in the course of a trial. We may also point out that apart from Indacaterol, there are other drugs which deal with the management of COPD which are also available in the Indian market."
