Under our Patent Act, you cannot patent a "new form of a known substance" unless it significantly improves the substance's *efficacy*. The Novartis Glivec judgment was a landmark because it strictly interpreted this, stopping "evergreening" by refusing a patent for the beta-crystalline form of imatinib, as it wasn't a true therapeutic efficacy leap.
I argue this in my dissertation, but watching my uncle's small pharma unit breathe easier because they could produce affordable versions after such judgments… that's the real-world efficacy the law intended. The obvious answer is that it stifles innovation, but my life in Kerala shows it protects the market from being evergreen… and barren for everyone else.
#athletics#track-and-field
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