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-The Economic Times
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The recent patent rulings in India may get frequently challenged in international courts if the government yields to the European Union's demand of including matters related to intellectual property in the investors-state dispute mechanism in their proposed trade pact, health activist groups have warned.
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An investor-state dispute resolution mechanism typically allows foreign investors to sue countries for compensation if national laws, policies, court rulings of the country infringe upon their investment rights under a free-trade agreement. The EU is pushing India to include this clause in their proposed free trade pact, claim health activists.
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&quot;The pro-public health stance recently taken by Indian courts protecting against the abuse of multinational pharmaceutical companies, as well as potential future decisions by the government to issue price controls or compulsory licenses, would be threatened should India agree on an expansive definition of investment (in the India-EU FTA), which includes all forms of intellectual property rights,&quot; said Unni Karunakara, international president of Doctors Without Borders, in a letter to PM Manmohan Singh.
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Doctors Without Borders is a global medical humanitarian organisation working in over 60 countries. It is one of several health activists groups in the country that support lowering of prices of essential medicines to make them easily accessible to the poor.
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Multinational drug makers, who have invested billions of dollars on research, are peeved with some of the recent court rulings in India, including that in the Glivec case, where the Supreme Court rejected Swiss firm Novartis' plea to grant a patent on its leukemia drug.
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The other countries that are already embroiled or have been threatened with international arbitration include Canada, Australia and Uruguay. In December, US drug innovator Eli Lilly said it would launch a legal offensive against the Canadian government under the North America Free Trade Agreement investor-state dispute mechanism. The drugmaker is seeking $100 million in compensation by challenging the decision of Canadian Courts that declared a patent on its drug Atomoxetine invalid.
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Indian drugmakers are already protesting proposed clauses in the final agreement, stipulating that mere suspicion of patent infringement by an Indian drugmaker could lead to seizure of the company's bank accounts and immovable property.
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Injunctions could also be issued against intermediaries and third parties, like suppliers, drug distributors and procurement agencies, for infringement of intellectual property rights. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma is scheduled to meet the EU Trade Commissioner, Karel De Gucht, in Brussels on April 15 to sort out the differences. 
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