After weeks of discussions over the nitty-gritty of the patents law, CPI(M) on Tuesday expressed support to the Bill saying the government had accepted ten of the 12 amendments in core areas suggested by the Left parties.
Maintaining that it was a "major achievement" of the parties supporting the government from outside, CPI(M) leaders Nilotpal Basu and Rupchand Pal told reporters that the changes in the Patents (Amendment) Bill, 2005, which were accepted by the government, would not only benefit the developing countries but also the poorer sections of people.
A committee of experts from scientific, technical and legal fields would be set up to go into the two amendments suggested by the Left but not accepted by the government, in a time-bound manner, they said adding these included the issues relating to 'new chemical entity' and 'new medical entity' and the question of micro-organisms.
Those amendments accepted by the government would be brought to Parliament as official amendments, Basu and Pal, said. These relate to the definition of inventiveness, new inventions, compulsory licensing, royalty, permit to produce and the issue of raising pre-grant objections instead of post-grant.
Observing that earlier the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party used to support each other on these matters and keep the Left marginalised on these issues, the CPI(M) leaders said, "We are happy today because we told the government that we can support the legislation only if you accept our suggestions in national interest."
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