1) Post-Amendment Patent Act of 1970

In 2005, India had to adopt a mechanism of ‘product patent’ for pharmaceuticals. 1 Pharmaceutical patents
in India can be arranged five classes:

a) Drug Compound Patents2

These patents guarantee a protection in the compound of the medication based on the chemical
arrangement of the drug. These patent cases are normally eluded as Markush type claims. A Markush
guarantee is a grant of protection in at least one portion of the medication compound. This form of patent
claim gives the widest type of protection to the drug of a company because it prevents different
companies from producing the product of the patent holder through any mechanism as several compounds
of the drug are patented.

b) Patent based on Composition and Formulation3

In this mechanism, the patented subject matter is the particular technology used in the preparation of the
formula and the composition of the significant components. It does not grant protection over the
individual compounds.

c) Patents for the Combinations of Drugs4

Patent protection is also granted for the combination of drugs when the interaction of these drugs
contributes significantly to the enhancement of the efficacy of the drug. 5 An illustration of Synergistic
drug patent is the claim allowed for the combination of Roflumilas and Sameterol.

1 The Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005, § 2.

2 Vipin Mathur, Patenting of Pharmaceuticals: An Indian Perspective, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG

DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH, available at http://www.ijddr.in/drug-development/patenting-of-pharmaceuticals-
an-indian-perspective.php?aid=4994 <last visited 26th April, 2019>.

3 ibid.

4 ibid.

5 The Patent Act of 1970, § 3(d).

 d) Patents for Drug Technology6

This form of patent is concerned with granting protection to the technology pertaining to stabilizing drug,
taste enhancements and increasing the soluble nature.

e) Polymorph Patents7

Polymorphs are distinctive physical structures or precious stone structure of a definitely known
compound. Polymorphs are generally arranged to increase the soundness of the mixes. Polymorph patents
protect the arrangement of the compounds but not the compounds themselves.

f) Process Patents8

Process patent is the mechanism, which existed before 2005 and refers to the claim only over the process
of manufacturing the specific medication. 9

6 Vipin Mathur, Patenting of Pharmaceuticals: An Indian Perspective, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG

DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH, available at http://www.ijddr.in/drug-development/patenting-of-pharmaceuticals-
an-indian-perspective.php?aid=4994 <last visited 26th April, 2019>.

7 ibid.

8 ibid.

9 as explained on p. 4.