Novartis, Inc. of Basel, Switzerland challenged India’s patent office after its rejection of Novartis’s patent application for Gleevec, a cancer drug. The patent laws in India were amended in 2005 allowing applicants to obtain patents on medicines. The India patent office, however, later in January 2006 rejected Novartis’s patent based on a prior version of the drug.

Novartis challenged the India patent office in the court, which later dismissed Novartis’s claim on the grounds that it believed it did not have jurisdiction to rule on whether the country’s patent laws are in compliance with World Trade Organization rules.

Public-health groups are pleased with the decision as a preservation of India’s ability to produce inexpensive, generic drugs for developing nations.