Exclusive Interview with Mr V Rengasamy, Retd. Deputy Controller of Patents. Designs and Trademarks, Indian Patent Office

This section is an initiative by Origiin to introduce latest innovations and valuable expert opinions on protection, exploitation of Intellectual property by Intellectual Property experts to provide inspiration to the readers and also make our readers aware about the emerging technologies, products and innovations. This section also aims at bringing out the importance of patent protection and the way such innovations make difference in evolution of scientific progress in the country.

In this issue, we are extremely happy to publish interview of V Rengasamy, Retd. Deputy Controller of Patents, Designs and Trademarks.

Mr Rengaswamy examined the most talked about patent application of Novartis and raised objections based on section 3 (d) of Indian Patent Act. Though his decision was appealed at various forums including IPAB, High Court and Supreme Court, but Mr Rengaswamy’s observations & analysis on section 3 (d) was found to be valid by Supreme Court.

Mr Rengaswamy is post-graduate in Chemistry from Madurai-Kamaraj University. He started his career in 1977 at Central Drugs Laboratory, Govt. of India, Kolkata. Then he moved to National Test House, Govt. of India, Kolkata in 1982.Mr Rangaswamy joined the Indian Patent Office, Kolkata, as Examiner of Patents & Designs in 1983 and later in the year 1985 he got transferred to the Indian Patent Office, Chennai. Mr Rengaswamy has attended many seminars and training programmes such as Orientation Seminar on General Aspects of Industrial Proper at WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland; training course on Patent Examination at the Netherlands Patent Office,training course on Intellectual Property at Colombo; attended Europe Asia Patent Information Conference at Singapore;attended WIPO Regional Forum on ESTs at Colombo etc.

Below are his expert opinions on various issues of patents particularly in pharmaceutical area falling under section 3 (d) of Indian IP regime.

Origiin: Hello Sir. It is a great pleasure and honor for us to interact with you and publish your thoughts in our newsletter.

Mr Rengasamy: Thank you. I feel privileged to share my views and thoughts with your esteemed organization.

Origiin: During your tenure as Assistant Controller at Indian Patent Office, Novartis filed for patent application related to anti cancerous drug Glivec. You were the first one to reject the application on the ground of section 3 (d). Your decision was even upheld by Supreme Court on further appeal by Novartis. It was indeed a big news all over the world.  Would you like to share your experience regarding this case?

Mr Rengasamy: Surely, I would like to share my experience on this historic judgment by our Supreme Court. I had been fortunate to have handled this case right from day one. Also by chance, I happened to be the Controller for that case. Just to brief you on the case: Novartis claimed beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate salt, in their anti-cancer drug Glivec. This was a very fit case to be rejected on the ground of section 3 (d) of the Patents Act, 1970 as amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005; because they could not prove any improvement in the therapeutic efficacy of the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate salt over the known forms of imatinibmesylate salt. Moreover, the specification itself stated that beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate can be equally used where imatinib base is used. This proved that there was no inventive step in their invention and it is a clear case of ever-greening.

In my 35 years of career in this field, I felt so accomplished and honored, when our Supreme Court gave this historical judgment, upholding my decision.

Origiin: Do you think the perception that United States IP model is logical and needs to be changed? Recently when whole world was questioning Indian IP policy, many big players like Honeywell, Boeing and Abbot came forward and supported Indian IPR regime saying that Indian IP framework is very much adequate to protect IP with no known cases of IP violation. Is this a good sign to believe that perceived philosophy will change gradually?

Mr Rengasamy: I quite personally believe that this perceived philosophy will always change gradually.

Origiin: Indian Patent Act 2005 is in compliance with WTO’s Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) but does not comply with WTO plus, which gives protection to even incremental innovation and this has been a prime demand from global Pharma companies. Is there any likelihood of this in near future?

Mr Rengasamy: It is a policy decision that government has to take. In my personal opinion, I don’t think that there is any possibility that our government will go for WTO plus in the near future.

Origiin: Although the number of patents filed in India has been increased significantly for past 3-4, years yet we are way behind compared to China and other counter parts. Is it because of lack of innovation or lack of awareness?

Mr Rengasamy: It is both. Most of the research scholars in India are reluctant to apply for a patent even when there is a patentable innovation. This can be gauged from the fact that only a few patent applications are filed by research scholars in India whereas their strength is in thousands. The story is the same in the case of big corporate too.

Origiin: Despite India being a potential growth market, foreign companies that are controlled by US trade lobby are speculative about coming to India owing to India’s strict IP laws. Is this an unfavorable condition towards Indian economy?

Mr Rengasamy: In my personal opinion, this is partly true. India is still a developing country with huge population. Health care for every Indian is still a distant dream, unlike other developed countries. Unless our government makes health care either free or affordable for every Indian, our government may not be in a position to embrace strict IP laws. This is a huge challenge for us. I personally foresee many years to go by, before we reach this situation. Having said that, I acknowledge that we are on the right track towards free/affordable health care for every individual, as we see from the trends of various State governments offering cheap health insurance to cover every citizen.

Origiin: What would be your message to Indian innovators?

Mr Rengasamy: Every Indian innovator should come forward to protect their innovation. Different government agencies should do their best to increase awareness about intellectual property, particularly patents, among research scholars.I would also like to add that IP Offices in India in collaboration with various Industry bodies reach out to various educational institutions as well as corporate, to spread awareness and encourage protecting their IP rights.

During my tenure at Patent Office, I personally had been part of many such activities, visiting various educational institutions as well as corporate.India has immense talent and the same has to be brought out and protected through IP. This is my message to all.

Origiin: Thank you so much Sir for your valuable thoughts.

Mr Rengasamy: Thanks for the opportunity. It has been a pleasure to be part of this interview.