Patents (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 : Next Steps

[Guest guest]

Patents (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 : Next Steps

Introduction

Public protests all over the world is picking up against the

Patents (Amendment) Ordinance 2004. The Global Day of Action was

very successful in generating public opinion against the Ordinance.

In India protests were held in all major cities including New Delhi,

Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Pangim, Trivandrum, Hyderabad,

Lucknow etc. Prior to the protests Conventions and workshops were

held in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkota, Chennai, Pune,

Sholapur, Simla, Bhopal, Cochin, Trivandrum, Pangim etc.

Three round tables and one colloquium were held in Delhi during the

pre and post Ordinance period. These were organised by different

organisations working on the issue cutting across ideologies.

At the international level protests were held in Paris, New York,

Washington DC, Casablanca Benin Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote

d'Ivoire Maroc, Republique Du Congo Democratic Republic of Congo,

Niger, Philippines

At present Parliament is in session and a Bill is likely to be

tabled on or before 18th of March to replace the Ordinance to amend

the Patents Act. The tentative agenda of Lok Sabha shows that

approximately 10 hours have been allotted for introduction,

consideration and passing of the Bill. This means the Bill will be

introduced at any time between 7-24 March 2005. There are 5 possible

scenarios in the coming days. These are explained below.

Scenario 1

The Bill to replace the Ordinance gets passed in Parliament in its

present form. This is unlikely to happen because both the left

parties and other Opposition parties have expressed their opposition

publicly and it is difficult for them to change their stand in

Parliament without any justification. Further the growing protest

gives confidence to political parties to oppose the Bill on the

lines of the Ordinance

Scenario 2

Government introduces a new Bill addressing all public interest

concerns. This is unlikely to happen because the government has not

given any indication in this regard. News reports on UPA

Coordination Committee Meeting indicate that the Committee decided

to refer the Bill to a committee of MPs. (when it introduce in the

parliament this doesn¡¦t make sense).

Scenario 3

The Bill may get passed if the parties opposing the Bill walked out

or abstain from voting. This is also unlikely to happen because

political parties cannot afford to follow such a strategy. However,

to avoid this situation groups should try and convince political

parties to vote against the Bill if it is introduced in the present

form.

Scenario 4

Government may try to convince both left parties and opposition with

some cosmetic changes in the Ordinance. Therefore groups should be

vigilant on the implications of such changes and be prepared to come

out with a quick response. This is exactly what happened at the time

of issuance of Ordinance. All papers reported that pre-grant

opposition is retained etc. However, it took 3-4 days for the groups

to convey the real picture.

Scenario 5

Government will introduce the Bill and agree to refer the Bill to a

Select Committee. As mentioned above UPA Coordination meeting agreed

in principle to refer the Bill to a committee of MPs once it is

introduced in Parliament. It could be the standing committee or

select committee. Ideally, the Bill should be refereed to a joint

select committee and not to a standing committee. The select

committee will give more space for public participation. However,

the question remains what would be the legal status of Ordinance

after reference of the Bill to a select committee. The Ordinance is

going to lapse after expiry of 6 weeks from the reconvening of

Parliament. Parliament reconvened on 25th of February. This would

mean the Ordinance would lapse in the first week of April. Everyone

knows that the committee cannot finish its deliberations in such a

short span of time. Therefore we should suggest that the Lok Sabha

should pass a resolution suspending the Ordinance except Section 5.

However, to avoid embarrassment government can allow the Ordinance

to lapse as happened in 1995 and carry out an amendment only to

suspend the operation of Section 5 of the Patents Act. There should

not be a compromise on this issue because operation of the Ordinance

harms the access to medicines.

Therefore we should

Request all political parties to oppose the Bill in its

present form

Demand reference of the Bill to a Joint Select Committee

Ask the government to suspend the operation of Ordinance.

Concrete Actions

Contact all UPA and NDA leaderships for Select Committee

Contact maximum number of MPs individually and convey the

problems with the Bill and encourage them also to move motions to

reject the Bill on constitutional grounds

Advocacy and lobby to get Select Committee with Speaker

Advocacy and Lobby to get right members in the Committee

File complaints with Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha with petition

committees

Contact members of National Advisory Council for the

implementation of CMP to encourage them to express their stand on

this issue

Contact Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Chemicals and Petro-

Chemicals because the Committee is presently considering the issue

of access to drugs.

Contact Minister of health, Minister of Chemicals and Petro-

Chemicals, Minster of Defence

A Note of Caution

The past experience of Joint Select Committee shows that the

Committee failed to fully appreciate the flexibility available

within TRIPS. Since the majority members of the committee belong to

the ruling coalition there is a tendency to justify the Bill and

will of the ruling party to prevail instead of getting into the

merits of the issue. Therefore ideally the Groups should demand a

multi-member commission to examine the whole question of TRIPS

implementation should be established with a mandate to recommend

changes in the Patents Act. During the interim period Government

should amend only Section 5 of the Patents Act and discard the

Ordinance. The amendment of Section 5 will ensure the TRIPS

compliance. Please send in your views on this suggestion.

If everybody agrees on this we should focus our campaign on this

suggestion.

Campaign Possibilities

While the focus of our campaign in the coming weeks is going to

focus on Parliament and political parties, we should also keep the

public campaign live. The following actions can be done in the

coming weeks.

Statement: Statement from eminent personalities opposing the

ordinance and suggesting the government not to convert the Ordinance

as a Bill.

Patient Groups: Mobilize various patients groups to send their

protest to all UPA and opposition parties. There is a fair amount of

participation of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS. However other groups

need to be mobilized.

Professional Bodies to Respond: We should try and mobilize opinions

of certain professional bodies like IMA, Drugs and Chemist

Associations, other Associations of Health Care workers etc. and

also encourage them to respond on this issue.

Contact Prominent Institutions: We should contact prominent

institutions, which include research and educational institutions

like IIMs, IITs, IISC, TIFR etc and organise meetings on this issue.

Contact Community Organisations: Contact community organisations and

encourage them to organise small meetings on this issue.

Mass Awareness: Chalk out a sustained campaign for leafleting,

posters, banners etc. In Mumbai trade unions and health groups are

planning to distribute leaflets at all railway stations. This would

be followed by posters and banners. This can be done in other places

also.

National Rally: All this would be followed by rallies or dharnas all

over the country. The date for this can be fixed after consultations

with the left groups.

" AMTC India "

E-mil: <amtc_india@...>