‘Govt must invoke Patents Act to step up manufacture of key drugs’ April 22, 2021 Now is ideal time to use compulsory licensing provision, says IP lawyer As the country battles the Covid pandemic with shortage of life-saving drugs, the government could consider invoking the provisions of the Patents Act to bring in more manufacturers and ensure seamless supplies. While the Centre has decided to allocate supplies of Remdesivir to 19 States/UTs with high burden of Covid cases, it has mapped manufacturers to States to smoothen the supply chain. States continue to complain of shortage. Ashok Ram Kumar of Wordict-IP, an advocate specialising in Intellectual Property Law, opines that “It is the right time for the government to invoke and exercise Section 92 of the Patents Act, 1970, which deals with compulsory licence.” He asserts that “there had never been a situation of extreme emergency like the current Covid-19 pandemic, demanding the efficient working of a patent before and that compulsory licensing is an ultimate weapon at the disposal of the government to ensure that all the citizens of India get access to the best treatment possible.”