瑞士諾華製藥公司在印度打輸專利官司

India's Supreme Court has rejected a patent bid by Swiss drug maker Novartis for a cancer drug.

In a landmark ruling Monday, the court dismissed patent protection to an updated version of the drug Glivec.

The ruling is a precedent that prevents international pharmaceutical companies from obtaining fresh patents in India on updated versions of existing drugs.

India's law prevents companies from seeking patents for making only slight modifications to an existing drug.

The Supreme Court decided Monday the updated Glivec did not satisfy the "novelty" aspect required by Indian patent law.

The ruling is a victory for India's multi-billion-dollar generic drug industry that provides cheap medicines to millions around the world.

Novartis has been fighting since 2006 to win a patent for the amended form of Glivec.印度最高法院駁回瑞士諾華製藥公司(Novartis)對治癌藥Glivec的專利申請。

星期一，印度最高法院做出具有里程碑意義的裁決，拒絕給予升級版Glivec專利保護。

這項裁決將成爲一項先例，防止國際製藥公司就既有藥品的升級版從印度獲得新專利保護。

根據印度法律，公司不得爲僅做細微變動的既有藥品申請專利。

印度最高法院星期一裁定，升級版Glivec不具備印度專利法所要求的創新性質。

這項裁決是印度擁有鉅額利潤的非專利藥製造業界的勝利，這一產業爲世界各地數以百萬計的人提供廉價藥。