-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court appointed panel on road safety headed by its retired judge KS Radhakrishnan has recommended ban on sale of alcohol on state and national highways to curb cases of road accidents in which nearly 1.5 lakh die every year in the country. Pointing out a slew of deficiencies on the part of state governments in enforcing motor vehicles rule, the committee has directed the...

-The Indian Express "If we did not have a patent system, it would be irresponsible, on the basis of our present knowledge of its economic consequences, to recommend instituting one." So said Fritz Machlup, a wise American economist several decades ago. His words remain as true now as they were then. For, the patent system is one of the most faulty legal regimes that one could possibly have conceived. It purports...

-The Hindu Business Line Seek clarification on US trade representative's testimony that India has committed to address IP issues that concern America Mumbai: Has India informally agreed to make changes in its Intellectual Property Rights regime on the basis of US concerns? A sizeable section of the Indian pharmaceutical industry and some pro-health groups are worried that it has, following US Trade Representative Ambassador Michael Froman's testimony to the Senate Committee on...

-The Indian Express The finance minister plans to scrap the supply of subsidised kerosene through the public distribution system (PDS) and high time, too. To begin with, why has the kerosene subsidy needed reform for decades and yet reform never materialised? Kerosene obtained through the PDS, being cheaper, is used to adulterate diesel and petrol. Kerosene leakages in the PDS are estimated to be 40 per cent of total allocations. The diversion...

-The Hindu Business Line Mumbai: A fresh bout of opposition has been filed against Gilead's patent application on hepatitis c drug sofosbuvir. This comes close on the heels of a spate of developments involving the drug, last month. Non-government organisation Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, represented by the Lawyers Collective has filed a pre-grant opposition on the drug in the Delhi patent office. (A pre-grant opposition allows interested parties to oppose a patent application...