Changes and more delay on Indian patent law amendment

According to this article, the Indian government has made significant concessions on the scope of the bill amending Indian patent law for TRIPs compliance.  Apparently, the proposed bill is written to prevent ‘evergreening’ practice, in which patent protection for pharmaceutical products is extended (in essence) by the granting of new claims that cover new chemical forms of a drug.  The quotes in the article suggest that coverage on new chemical forms might only be available if a change in efficacy results.  The changes are apparently incorporated into the bill under the ‘inventive step’ language.

On the software front, the bill apparently excludes embedded software from the new product patent regime.

Despite the proposed changes, debate on the bill was delayed today following protests on the measure.