Novartis AG has moved the Madras High Court challenging the rejection of its patent application for beta crystalline form of imatinibmesylate, as well as the provisions of the Patents(Ammendment) Act 2005 under which it was rejected.

The pharma major represented by Ranjana Mehta Dutta was rejected after a pre-grant opposition on the basis of Section 3(d) of the Patents (Ammendment) Act 2005.

Assailing the rejection order, the petitioner stated that the latter was unconstitutional and was against TRIPS of WTO to which India is a signatory.

Ms Dutta stated that The Section 3(d) was a conscious breach of India's obligation under TRIPS. She further added that while amending the Section the legislature completely ignored the rational underlying in the Article 253 and 51(a) of the constitution, which mandate the government or court to mould original law in harmony with International treaties.

In it's petition, Novartis said that the application was rejected on the grounds that the compound did not differ significantly in properties with regards to efficacy as compared to other similar compounds.

Novartis has challenged Section 3(d) in a separate petition.

Source: Hindu, Tuesday 30 January, 2007