Section 100 of the Patents Act lets the Central government use a patent to manufacture a medicine and sell it on a non-commercial basis

Background

Section 100 of the Patents Act, 1970 deals with the use of a patented invention for the purposes of government. Deciding a suo motu petition titled In Re Exorbitant Pricing of Life Saving Patented Medicines, the institution now interpreting that provision, the Kerala High Court, held that a notice under Section 100 also includes the entitlement of the government to use the patent or invention for manufacturing the medicine covered by the patent and sell the same to a person, including a needy patient, on a non-commercial basis. The court held that Section 100 is required to be invoked in circumstances where the government is required to intervene, such as an instance where the medicine manufactured on the basis of a patent is being sold at an exorbitant price. It also held that the government requires to collate the required data and arrive at a decision as to whether a particular medicine is affordable or not before proceeding under Section 100. Compulsory licensing is a separate route, provided for in Sections 84 and 92 of the same Act. The proceeding arose from the pricing of the patented breast cancer medicine Ribociclib. Justice Harisankar V. Menon delivered the verdict.