Status of Indian patent law amendments

Changes to India’s patent law (e.g., extending protection to pharmaceutical and other products) have been made but the future of the changes is still not clear. A presidential decree was issued to make the changes, which had to be in place by today. The decree was necessary because a bill to amend the law was not introduced in the winter session of parliament because of political differences.

The presidential decree must be approved by parliament to make the changes permanent and will likely be considered during the upcoming February budget session.

India appears to have met the TRIPs deadline, but the political debate over the scope of patent protection still looms, as does the possibility that the decree will not be approved.

So keep the question mark over India for at least the next month.