More bad patents
2006-07-08 18:46:46.380997+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
India fighting the patenting of traditional medicines by US pharmaceutical companies.
India claims to have found 5,000 U.S. patents on medicinal plants, 80 percent of them from India. Half of these patents should never have been given to the American drug developers, according to India's government. Europe has also granted a patent to use neem extract for its antiseptic properties. Millions of Indians have a neem tree growing in their gardens. They pick off a twig each morning to use as a toothbrush. It cost millions of dollars to fight the neem patent, which was repealed in 2005.