Mailman School of Public Health Assistant Professor Bhaven Sampat, PhD, has created a dataset of all published Indian patent applications and patents, which is now available on a free website (india.bigpatents.org) where people can search for pending applications. This new system will help ensure that patent applications are thoroughly scrutinized, preventing the issuance of frivolous patents and protecting the interests of patients in developing countries, while at the same time preserving incentives for pharmaceutical R&D.
The database, funded by the Ford Foundation and developed with Patrick Crosby of XB Labs, LLC (www.xblabs.com), is already widely used by lawyers, patent examiners, disease advocates, firms, and others in the business, academic, and the non-profit sectors. It is also profiled in a handbook on searching for pharmaceutical patents being developed for the World Health Organization (WHO).
“A modern patent system requires modern data infrastructure,” says Dr. Sampat, an economist at the Mailman School’s Department of Health Policy and Management and International Center for Health Outcomes and Innovation Research (InCHOIR). “Searchable data on Indian applications and patents are critical to ensuring that the patent system promotes the development of new technologies, facilitates the diffusion of these technologies, and issues high-quality patents.”
Since India passed new patent laws allowing for product patents on drugs, there has been a surge of pharmaceutical patent applications. Because India is a large exporter of low cost drugs, there was concern that these patents, if issued, would lead to increased drug prices and reduced access not only in India but in the developing world more generally, especially in the context of HIV drugs.
In passing the new laws, India included some safeguards to protect public health. Specifically, India instituted an "opposition" system whereby experts can present information to the patent office if they believe an application should not be patented on legal/technical grounds. “This opposition system has had several notable successes and means that people in developing countries, who may have been priced out of the market if the patents had issued, can continue to afford their lifesaving drugs,” said Dr. Sampat. However, he observes, “Opposition has been hamstrung with time delays making it nearly impossible for advocates to search Indian patents and applications.” According to advocates, the Indian government had been planning to create a searchable database for years—even investing significant resources -- but had failed to complete the project.
"BigPatents India has revolutionized how to obtain patent information in India," said Tahir Amin, co-founder of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK) in India. "For nearly two years, users have had to toil with manual journals or files with limited search capacity. For groups like ours that are involved in analyzing granted patents in India, it makes the new patent regime more transparent, and we are grateful to all those at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health who have made this possible."
In addition to its basic search capability, the new site includes weekly links to new applications and patents by firm name, and a weekly email newsletter summarizing the same. Planned enhancements include links from Indian applications to corresponding international applications, drug and disease data, and user guides on searching Indian applications and patents. Also being discussed is the feasibility of implementing an online "peer review" system for Indian patent applications. Dr. Sampat is also currently using the data to analyze the effects of the new Indian patent laws on pharmaceutical innovation, and access to medicines in developing countries.
About the Mailman School of Public Health
The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 950 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students and over 300 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences. (www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu)
The Mailman School's International Center for Health Outcomes and Innovation Research (InCHOIR) conducts clinical trials of novel medical interventions, science policy studies, and patent safety research.