MULTINATIONALS STILL FEARFUL ON INDIA PATENTS

India's signing of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade at Marrakesh, Morocco, on April 15 has in no way mollified the fears of multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in India about the patent issue. For example, drug giant Pfizer is reportedly piqued over India's inadequate patent rights, and may even join other companies in closing its operations in India.

Robert Neimeth, chairman of the Intellectual Property Rights Committee of the US/ India Joint Business Council, who recently visited India's capital, New Delhi, was quoted in a news report as saying that without proper patent laws, India would miss the "financial or technological rewards that other countries are beginning to reap."

Referring to the Roper survey and the World Bank and International Finance Corporation study, Mr Neimeth termed as a "serious matter, that about 80% of the US companies considered intellectual property protection in India to be "too weak" to permit further investment in joint ventures. The report said that "we (Pfizer) too will join many others like Merck, Roche, Searle and Squibb who halved or cut back their operations."