Wheat patent has SC miffed

The Supreme Court today expressed its concern over India8217;s lack of focus on the patenting of 8216;8216;Nephal8217;8217;, an Indian ...

The Supreme Court today expressed its concern over India8217;s lack of focus on the patenting of 8216;8216;Nephal8217;8217;, an Indian wheat variety of over 1,000 years, now patented in Europe by US multinational Mon Santo.

A bench, comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S.H. Kapadia, drew the attention of Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramanium to 8216;8216;the fact that the US could patent three wheat strains so far8217;8217; and asked him to state the Centre8217;s position on the issue within four weeks.

The government on its side argues that there is no need to 8216;8216;contest8217;8217; Mon Santo8217;s patenting of Nephal, as the patent applied only to the wheat8217;s NCIMBA-40251 strain. The Centre has also produced an expert committee report from the Department of Agriculture Research and Education and the Indian Council for Agriculture Research stating that the development and patenting of wheat, or any genetic product, cannot be prevented, even if such products had 8216;8216;similar characteristics8217;8217; to Indian varieties. The report also stated that the patent granted to Mon Santo had been revoked with effect from October 3, 2004.

But the judges made it clear that 8216;8216;it is not the question of revocation of the patent as in the case of Nephal8230; but one of steps taken by the Government to protect its genetic products from being patented by foreign countries and multi-national companies8217;8217;.

The matter was brought to court on a PIL by a social activist organisation, the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Economics. Acting on the PIL, the court had already issued notices to the Centre and the Agriculture Ministry to furnish a reply on steps taken to protect Indian genetic products from being patented by foreign firms. The bench has also asked the Government to consider various aspects of the protection of its genetic products and suggestions given by NGOs.