Patent Strategies Like Evergreening Differently Impact The...

By: Anuradha Prasad Patent strategies like evergreening differently impact the developing world. The practice of evergreening not just refer to extending the original patent, but also includes strategies and practices used to protect a cluster of related, but unoriginal, technologies through the filing of secondary applications. This contributes to increased medical costs by keeping lower-cost generic alternatives out of the marketplace. This chapter gives an overview of the evergreening strategies that are employed by branded pharmaceutical companies as a tactic to bypass existing patent laws and limit generic competition in the marketplace. The frequency of such strategies demands strong patent interpretations that are protective of†¦show more content†¦Taking the advantage of this existing loophole in patent law, patent applications for the developments or modifications is not just filed by the original product developer but also by other companies including generic companies. One the one h and the branded companies advertise to customers their brand value and reliability, and on the other hand they try to cast generics negatively on the basis of poor replication, or unsatisfactory testing before commercial production of the original formula. However, the argument put forth by branded companies is that they enable the development of a non-infringing competitor product thereby channeling â€Å"designing around† the patent. A monopoly right that is suitably limited is vital in helping preserve the policy underlying the Patent Act of promoting innovation while still allowing the intellectual property to enter the public domain. II.EVERGREENING STRATEGIES A. DELAY THE LAUNCH OF GENERIC PRODUCTS/ 30 MONTH PERIOD OF STAY PROVISION In US, innovator drug companies have been able to use provisions of the Hatch Waxman Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1984 to delay or restrict the launch of generic competitor products. The innovator pharmaceutical company has been allegedly using the listing of additional patents in the ‘Orange Book ’ to try to benefit fromShow MoreRelatedNon-Market Strategy for Big Pharma Companies as a Response to India’s Protectionist and Discriminatory Policies1563 Words   |  7 Pages2012, the Indian Patent Office allowed a domestic company (Natco Pharma Ltd.) to sell a generic version of Bayer AGs cancer drug ‘Nexavar’ on the grounds that the German company’s drug not affordable to the local populace due to cost reasons. Then in March 2013, the Honorable Supreme Court of India denied patent protection to Novartis’s blockbuster cancer drug ‘Gleevac’ stating that Novartis had resorted to ‘evergreeningâ₠¬â„¢ in an effort to extend their monopoly beyond the standard patent period. The Indian