The government has invited suggestions from the trade and industry for the third and final amendments to the Patents Act, 1970.

Speaking at an interactive session organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, joint secretary at the department of industrial policy and promotion Anwar Ahmad said the people concerned should come forward to offer their suggestions based on practical experiences to bring in effective policy-level changes.

He said, India, having already carried out the two earlier amendments in 1999 and 2002, has made the domestic law partially compliant with the TRIPS requirements.

"But this third and final set of amendments, which should become operational from January 1, 2005, will be substantive in nature since they will introduce a product patent regime in all fields of technology, including food, drugs, pharmaceuticals and chemicals," Ahmad said.

He said the necessity was felt for extending patent protection to business methods and also computer programmes and software.

As a result of earlier amendments, the existing patent law provides for strong and comprehensive set of safeguards and is fully equipped to deal with issues relating to availability of drugs and its pricing, compulsory licensing, government use, parallel imports and assumption or revocation of patent rights in the public interest, especially those relating to public health.

Ahmad emphasised that as a response to the demands of globalisation, and to capitalise on the country's inherent strength and present position as an emerging knowledge super-power, provisioning for an adequately strong and proactive intellectual property regime in the country was crucial.