EVERGREENING: A DECEPTIVE DEVICE IN PATENT RIGHTS

Abstract

Patents are the exclusive right of rewarding the first and true inventors of new inventions. An innovation must be original, requiring an innovative phase and an industrial application, in order to be patentable. In principle, patents exist to help the propagation of creative information. The patent system offers the requisite incentives for scientific investment and enables inventors to participate in new lines of research and development, thus encouraging more innovation. It is considered an exclusive right and not a monopoly, because there are built-in controls and balances in the patent system to avoid patent misuse, such as compulsory licenses, authorized use, etc. The recent trend in the patent system, however, shows that there is a tendency to increase patent rights, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, by making trivial changes and modifications. In general, drug firms are ever-greening, tweaking existing molecules to demonstrate creativity by filing fresh patent applications. Patent ever-greening is a term used to mark procedures that have arisen in some jurisdictions in which a small alteration to an existing product is made and believed to be a new innovation. The present paper addresses patents with a specific focus on patent greening at all times. A study will also be made of the seminal judicial decision in Novartis A G v. Union of India.