Get evergreening patent requests very often, these benefit select few cos: Piyush Goyal

Time of India

27-04-2025

New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister
Piyush Goyal
Sunday said that India 'very often' gets requests to grant fresh patents for a longer period of time to
pharmaceutical companies
for the incremental changes to their patents, called 'evergreening'.
#Pahalgam Terrorist Attack
India stares at a 'water bomb' threat as it freezes Indus Treaty
India readies short, mid & long-term Indus River plans
Shehbaz Sharif calls India's stand "worn-out narrative"
At the
World Health Summit
Regional meeting, he said that this is 'so sad' as the world has to suffer for the supernatural profits of a select few companies and their shareholders.
His statement assumes significance as earlier this month, the US flagged the restriction on patent-eligible subject matter in Section 3(d) of the
Indian Patents Act
which prohibits the grant of 'evergreening' patents, which are additional patents for a drug with no therapeutic benefit, and are seen to increase the term of a patent monopoly.
Play Video
Pause
Skip Backward
Skip Forward
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
0:00
Loaded
:
0%
0:00
Stream Type
LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
1x
Playback Rate
Chapters
Chapters
Descriptions
descriptions off
, selected
Captions
captions settings
, opens captions settings dialog
captions off
, selected
Audio Track
default
, selected
Picture-in-Picture
Fullscreen
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text
Color
White
Black
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan
Opacity
Opaque
Semi-Transparent
Text Background
Color
Black
White
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan
Opacity
Opaque
Semi-Transparent
Transparent
Caption Area Background
Color
Black
White
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan
Opacity
Transparent
Semi-Transparent
Opaque
Font Size
50%
75%
100%
125%
150%
175%
200%
300%
400%
Text Edge Style
None
Raised
Depressed
Uniform
Drop shadow
Font Family
Proportional Sans-Serif
Monospace Sans-Serif
Proportional Serif
Monospace Serif
Casual
Script
Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values
Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You
Villas In Dubai | Search Ads
View Deals
Undo
'I receive this request very often that we should also allow pharmaceutical companies the ability to have incremental changes to their patents and allow them to have a fresh patent for another long period of time. We normally understand that as evergreening of patents,' Goyal said.
The UK and the EU have also sought amendments in India's Patents Act to allow the 'evergreening' of patents, especially in pharma.
Live Events
'It is so sad that just for the supernatural profits of a select few companies and possibly their shareholders, the world has to suffer. The world is deprived of quality healthcare is deprived of equitable healthcare,' Goyal said at the event.
The US
Trade
Representative has said that it continues to monitor the restriction on patent-eligible subject matter in Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act and its impacts.
'Pharmaceutical stakeholders continue to raise concerns as to whether India has an effective system for protecting against unfair commercial use and unauthorized disclosure of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products,' USTR said in its foreign trade barriers report earlier this month.
At the event, Goyal called for working towards global critical trials and research, particularly on traditional medicines, setting high standards of safety without compromising on compliances and making it easier to comply with the needs of scientific evidence.
Quoting Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
, he said: 'For us, healthcare is not just curing a sick patient. Healthcare is preventive healthcare, it is wellness, it is mental healthcare, and it means bridging society under the umbrella of a better lifestyle and a better future'.
He also highlighted that more than 620 million people are now eligible for free healthcare under the
Ayushman Bharat scheme
, the world's largest government-sponsored health insurance programme, emphasizing that India's commitment was never driven by profit but by compassion.