The Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed by the Swiss firm Novartis for protection of patent of:

The case concerned the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate, sold as Glivec or Gleevec and used against chronic myeloid leukaemia and certain tumours. In Novartis AG v Union of India, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals seeking patent protection on 1 April 2013. The product is thus a cancer-fighting drug. The judgment applied the invention and patentability requirements, including section 3(d) of the Patents Act.