Patents Amendment Ordinance Workshop : February 15, 2005, 3-6 pm : WBNUJS

[Guest guest]

workshop on PatentS (Amendment) Ordinance 2004

Date: February 15, 2005. Time: 3 pm to 6 pm

Venue: West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences

Address: LB-12, Sector III, Salt Lake, Calcutta 700 098

(Near Salt Lake Stadium, Eastern Metropolitan Bypass-Beleghata Crossing)

Organised by: Affordable Medicines and Treatment Campaign (AMTC), Lawyers

Collective – HIV/AIDS Unit, Mumbai; WBNUJS, Calcutta; FMRAI, Calcutta; SPARSHA,

Calcutta; Bengal Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS;

SAATHII, Calcutta

Dear Friends

On December 26, 2004, the government promulgated the Patents (Amendment)

Ordinance 2004 to amend the Indian Patents Act, 1970. The Ordinance in its

present form seriously compromises the accessibility and availability of

medicines, two important components of the Right to Health guaranteed by the

Constitution of India.

The provisions of the Ordinance also contradict the National Common Minimum

Programme that promised “to take all steps to ensure availability of life saving

drugs at reasonable prices”.

There are serious issues with regard to the amendment process as well as the

contents of the Ordinance. The amendment process has been non-transparent so far

because it has denied the opportunity to public interest groups to represent

their concerns. The people at large, as an affected party, have a right to be

consulted and heard.

Neither the contents of the Patents (Amendment) Bill nor the text of the

Ordinance were made public till the promulgation of the Ordinance. Most of the

amended provisions go beyond the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights (TRIPS) obligations and establish a strong patent regime at the cost of

public interest.

A workshop is being organized in Calcutta on February 15, 2005, to discuss the

issues of concern relating to access to medicines and food under the new patent

regime. We also propose to discuss the possibility of a public action to demand

the removal of “TRIPS-PLUS” provisions from the Ordinance / Bill during the

workshop.

We request your participation in the workshop to make it a success!

§ Affordable Medicines and Treatment Campaign (AMTC)

§ Lawyers Collective – HIV/AIDS Unit

§ West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS)

§ Federation of Medical Representative Associations of India (FMRAI)

§ Society for Positive Atmosphere & Related Support to HIV/AIDS (SPARSHA)

§ Bengal Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS (BNP+)

§ Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in India (SAATHII)

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

3.00 – 3.10 pm : Welcome address and introductions

3.10 – 3.30 pm : Opening Presentation by Prof. B. S. Chimni, Vice Chancellor,

West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Calcutta

3.30 – 3.50 pm : Presentation by Dr. Sudip Chaudhuri, Professor of Economics,

Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta: “Patents and Pharmaceutical Industry:

Issues of Access”

3.50 – 4.10 pm : Presentation by Mr. Anand Grover, Lawyers Collective – HIV/AIDS

Unit, Mumbai: “Patents Ordinance: Issues of Concern”

4.10 – 4.30 pm : Q & A session

4.30 – 4.40 pm : Short tea break

4.40 – 5.00 pm : Presentations by students of WBNUJS – Topics to be announced

5.00 – 5.45 pm : Open discussion on public action to protest the Ordinance

5.45 – 6.00 pm : Networking, media interaction and refreshments

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Contacts:

1) Pawan Dhall, SAATHII, CD-335, Sector I, Salt Lake, Calcutta 700 064

Phone: 2334 7329 / 98312 88023. E-mail: saathii@... / pawan30@...

2) AMTC Secretariat, C/o Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, 7/10, 2nd Floor,

Botawalla Building, Fort, Mumbai 400 023. Phone: 022 2267 6213 / 6219. Fax: 022

2270 2563. E-mail: amtc_india@...