Patents are available to any invention that meets the criteria of patentability, that is, novelty, inventiveness and industrial application.
Section 3(d) prevents the grant of patent for merely new forms or new usages of known substances and thus averts grant of frivolous patents, which may be obtained by minor modifications, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector.
The provisions for requirement of enhancement of the known efficacy under section 3(d) of the Patents Act, 1970 are only for the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance. This provision has been made only to prevent the ever greening of product patents.
Section 3(d) is also intended to ensure availability of medicines by preventing ever greening of existing patents and thus is in consonance with Member States' rights of ensuring availability of medicines at reasonable prices for meeting public health requirements.
