Mondaq has recognised Renu Bala Rampal and Johny Solomon Raj of S.S. Rana & Co. in its Thought Leadership Awards, Spring 2024. Their article on Mondaq placed second (#2) for India in Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences, one of four placings that made S.S. Rana & Co. a Top Firm for India in the same edition.
About the Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards
Mondaq is an online publisher of legal, regulatory and financial commentary written by law firms and advisers around the world, and its awards site is co-branded with The Legal 500. Its Thought Leadership Awards recognise the authors whose articles readers turn to most.
Who qualifies: The awards draw on articles published on Mondaq by contributing firms and their authors, with separate results for each country and for a range of topics, including Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences.
How winners are chosen: Mondaq decides the awards on total readership during the award period.
The format: For each country and topic, Mondaq names the top three placings. Each co-author of a placed article is recognised individually.
What the award recognises
Writing that reaches readers: A second place in Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences means the article was among the most-read pieces by Indian authors on Mondaq in that topic during the award period.
A partnership in patent writing: Renu and Johny have written together regularly on patent law and practice, from how to turn an idea into a patent and novelty requirements to biological sequence listing standards and selection patents for chemical and pharmaceutical inventions.
Grounded in practice: Both work in S.S. Rana & Co.’s patent practice, handling drafting, filing and prosecution for clients in pharmaceuticals, chemistry, life sciences and other technologies.
Pharmaceutical patents in India: from process to product
India’s approach to pharmaceutical patents changed fundamentally after it joined the TRIPS Agreement in 1995.
Process patents only: Under the Patents Act, 1970 as originally enacted, India granted only process patents for food, medicines and chemicals, which allowed Indian manufacturers to make known drugs by new processes and helped build a strong generic industry.
The mailbox: The Patents (Amendment) Act, 1999 allowed product patent applications for drugs and agrochemicals to be filed from 1 January 1995 and held in a “mailbox” until product patents became available, with exclusive marketing rights available in the meantime.
A 20-year term: The Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002 set a uniform patent term of 20 years from the filing date for all inventions.
Product patents return: The Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 reintroduced product patents for pharmaceuticals from 1 January 2005, alongside safeguards such as Section 3(d) on new forms of known substances and pre-grant oppositions.
For innovators and generic companies alike, this history still shapes how pharmaceutical patents are drafted, examined and challenged in India.
About the authors
Renu Bala Rampal: Renu works on patent drafting, filing and prosecution across a range of technologies, with a scientific background that spans chemistry, life sciences, mechanical technologies and pharmaceuticals.
Johny Solomon Raj: Johny works on patent filing and prosecution for clients in India and abroad, and has led sessions on patent filing procedure at Indian universities.
Recognition in Spring 2024
| Award | Recognition | Recipient |
| Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, India | #2, Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences | Renu Bala Rampal, Johny Solomon Raj |
| Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, India | #1, Antitrust/Competition Law | Rupin Chopra, Apalka Bareja |
| Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, India | #2, Environmental Law | Vikrant Rana, Anuradha Gandhi |
| Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, India | #2, Technology | Anuradha Gandhi, Isha Sharma |
| Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, India | Top Firms | S.S. Rana & Co. |
See the Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences results and our page on the firm’s Spring 2024 Top Firms recognition. Read about the firm’s 2024 recognition in The Patent Lawyer and Chambers Asia-Pacific. Each recognition is recorded on our Awards page.
We congratulate Renu and Johny on this recognition, and thank everyone in India and abroad who read and shared their work.
Frequently Asked Questions
mondaq-renu-johny-spring-2024
Yes. Their article placed second (#2) for India in Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences in the Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards, Spring 2024.
Mondaq decides the awards on total readership of articles published on its platform during the award period, with results for each country and for a range of topics.
Yes. S.S. Rana & Co. is listed among the Top Firms for India, with four placed articles in Spring 2024, including a first place in Antitrust/Competition Law.
India granted only process patents for pharmaceuticals under the Patents Act, 1970 as originally enacted. To comply with the TRIPS Agreement, the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 reintroduced product patents for pharmaceuticals, food and chemicals from 1 January 2005.
The Patents (Amendment) Act, 1999 allowed applicants to file product patent applications for drugs and agrochemicals from 1 January 1995, to be kept in a “mailbox” and examined once product patents became available in 2005. In the meantime, applicants could seek exclusive marketing rights.
Since the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002, all patents in India last 20 years from the date of filing, in line with the TRIPS Agreement.
Write to info@ssrana.com with a short description of your matter, and the firm will connect you with the right team.
The article is available on Mondaq at https://www.mondaq.com/article/1273580.