SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, PUNE INTERNAL ELIMINATION, 2016 2017 | MOOT PROPOSITION

SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, PUNE

MOOT COURT ASSOCIATION

SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, PUNE INTERNAL ELIMINATION, 2016 - 17

MOOT PROPOSITION

1.

Mahan, a country located in Asia, has most of its territory located on peninsular island
with extremely popular varieties of fruits and grains. One of the State Pappaivastu, which
is located in South Central part of the country. Mahan is popular for the Pappaya fruit.
Pappaivastu is a world renowned Pappaya manufacturing destination. Because of highest
yield of Pappaya fruit in Pappaivastu, Mahan is able to top the list of countries exporting
Pappaya. The economy of Mahan is heavily dependent on the agrarian exports which is in
turn dependent on Monsoon and tropical rains.

2.

One of the districts in Pappaivastu, known as Amalapoppu is well known for a specific
type of Pappaya fruit, which is known as Poppuyanas (Poppodatus), which is rich with
Protein and is also useful for Medicinal purpose. After almost 10 years (1992 to 2002) of
research, the scientists from Oddocare Pharma Pvt. Ltd., a Public Limited Company listed
in Mahan Stock Exchange, were able to establish that during the pre-harvest season when
the smaller and raw Pappaya fruit (Green in Colour) is seen on the Pappaya Trees there is
a specific odor which is prominently felt at night indicating that there is a supply of
Anicylin, from the trunk of the tree towards the growing fruit, and Anicylin is useful drug
in the treatment of cancer.

3.

The Company has constantly involved itself in the Research and Development activity for
the diseases occurring due to deficiency of Anicylin. Since 2002, the Company
established a Laboratory and Preservation Centre for Anicylin.

4.

The Company has been an encouraging factor amongst the Pappaya farmers, as the
Company has been educating the farmers about the growth of Poppodatus as a part of
their CSR. The Company has Contractual Agreement with many Pappaya farmers who
get heavily paid with Consideration for buying Raw Anicylin, which is extracted from the

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Tree Trunks by the Team of Experts. On an average the farmer, who is having One Acre
of Pappaya plantation is paid Rs.2,00,000/- as consideration for allowing the company to
extract the Anicylin from the tree trunk.
5.

The Agreement prepared by the Company for the Pappaya extraction from the farmers
has a following Clause 6:
The farmers producing Poppuyanas (Poppodatus) are expected to follow the
process which is provided in the manual attached herewith. The farmers are
also expected to follow the Time Schedule provided in the Agreement for the
best possible yield. If the farmer voluntarily changes any procedure or makes
any alteration on his own in the entire process or any part of any process of
cultivation or even in the use of fertilizers and chemicals, the Oddocare
Pharma Ltd. has every right to deny and decline the payment for extraction of
Anicylin at any time which it deems fit. The Oddocare Pharma Ltd. reserves
every right to repudiate the contract of extraction of Anicylin from Pappaya
tree from the specific farmer who is not following the process given in the
manual.

6.

In the year 2014, the peninsular island of Mahan was hit by Drought. The worst Drought
hit Area in country of Mahan was Pappaivastu. In the year 2015, the Pappaivastu state
and Amalpoppu district had the Lowest Production of Pappaya. The farmers faced
economic challenges as they were getting paid based on the yield per acre of land and
which is decided as per the manual provided by the Company with the requirement of
minimum number of trees per acre.

7.

In the subsequent years also, there was Drought like situation and the farmers again were
not in a position to cultivate much of the Pappaya. As the farmers could not produce the
expected level of production of Pappaya, they could not earn profits and the Company
also suffered as they were not getting the expected amount of Anicylin.

8.

The Company conducted a survey with the team of experts for figuring out the Reasons
of Loss and finding the suitable measures to avoid such loss again. While conducting the
survey, the government agency was also involved on the advice of the Central
Government Agricultural Minster, who belonged to the same district of Amalpoppu.

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9.

Surprisingly, out of the entire Region surveyed by the team of Experts, there was only
one farm bearing around Six Acres of Land which was not at all affected by the Drought.
The yield was good. The Survey Team further enquired and they were surprised to know
that even in the Least Water period during the Drought, the quality of the Pappaya was
good. The farmer who made it possible was Satish, who was an experimental farmer. On
further enquiries by the Collector of Amalpoppu, who was also part of the Survey Team,
Satish told the Collector that as part of an Experiment he used the Gel, which he invented
by some process of boiling Bakam Tree Branches and Leaves and adding some vapor of
some local herbs. He also explained that the Pappaya Tree is not affected only because of
Less Water but also because of a fungus, Modadotrus, which needs Dry Weather and
Heat to sustain.

10.

The Collector advised Satish to write down the process of making the Gel from Bakam
Tree and try and file a Patent for the same. By the time any further research could be
conducted by the Company, there were Economic Crisis which loomed Large for the
Company as their manufacturing was at its lowest. Due to the contract that the Company
entered with Satish three years ago, Satish is reasonably in a Fair Economic Condition.
When the Company heard from the Collector, that there is some kind of Fungus
Treatment which was implemented by Satish, Oddocare Pharma wanted to take the
sample of Pappaya and Anicylin extract from Satishs farm.

11.

The Company also found that the Pappaya trees were affected in the Region not just due
to the Heat but majorly due to Modadotrus. They also confirmed through their Research
that the Modadatrus is a unique Fungus which sustains strongly in the Heat and it extracts
all the water from the Tree Trunk along with all the vital vitamins and proteins which
does not enable the Trees to yield properly.

12.

Pertaining to crunch economic challenges, the Company could not Research on the
Bakam Tree Gel prepared by Satish. They also did not know about the process of making
such Gel either. After facing 2-3 months of less manufacturing and fewer profits, the
Company was in the dire Economic State. The Shareholders of Oddocare Pharma Pvt.
Ltd. were also getting impatient about the return on their investment. In order to revive
the Company, there was a plan for Restructure of the Company, wherein pertaining to the
Economic Crisis and constant loss in market value and share, the Government in order to

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protect the interest of the Shareholders and drugs marketed by the Company decided to
convert the company into a Public Undertaking Company.
13.

David Alterman, previous Director, of the Oddocare Pharma Pvt. Ltd. read about the
economic debacle of the Company. David is currently on Board of Director of another
company named Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. having main office in the capital city of
Washington D.C. in U.S.A. Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. is also a big and popular
pharmaceutical company having many patents in its name, with many subsidiary
companies in Australia, E.U., New Zealand, South Africa and U.K. Giant Pharma Pvt.
Ltd. was waiting for their turn to enter Mahan Pharmaceutical Market and either open
their subsidiary or acquire a company.

14.

David decided to acquire the shares of the Company and make it a subsidiary of Giant
Pharma Pvt. Ltd. Somehow with the help of some old Directors who were still in touch
with David and were holding majority shares in Oddocare Pharma Pvt. Ltd. and who
agreed to sell their share to David in the Company, Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. could hold
49% of controlling shares of the Company. Thus, the Oddocare Pharma Ltd. became a
Public Private Partnership. The rest 51% shares are held by the Government of Mahan.

15.

Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. did not change the Contractual Structure of the Agreement for the
extract of Anicylin from the farmers in the country of Mahan and also continued the
contracts in the name of Oddocare Pharma Ltd. for the subsequent season.

16.

Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. after due verification of the facts in its own laboratory, after the
research, started its new branch in US and started production of Bakam Tree Gel with
some minor modifications and named it as Bakamotradus Gel. They also got a patent
for the Bakamotradus Gel in US. The Drug Authorities and Ministry of Agriculture in
Mahan also approved the usage of Bakamotradus Gel in conditions in Mahan.
Furthermore, the Controller of Patents in Mahan has awarded patent to Giant Pharma Pvt.
Ltd. with proper procedure under its patent law which is in consonance with the TRIPS
Agreement.

17.

Meanwhile, Satish started production of the Gel made from Bakam Tree branches and
leaves. He named the Gel Bakamusul. He did it for the benefit of the people from
Amalpoppu district. The people from Amalpoppu district and most of the regions in
Pappaivastu started liking the product Bakamusul. Further, with the funding received

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from Farmcare (local NGO) and Farmers Association of Amalpoppu, Satish has started
his own One Person Company named SatPharma (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. and has also established
a state of art Laboratory for further research.
18.

The Farmers Association in Amalpoppu took the issue seriously and have come to the
level of demonstrations and supported Satish on every count. There is post grant
Opposition pending in the office of Controller of Patent filed by Satish and Farmers
Association of Amalpoppu.

19.

Now Satish and Farmers Association have approached High Court of Pappaivastu for
challenging the Patent granted by Controller of Patents in Mahan to Giant Pharma Pvt.
Ltd. Satish and Farmers Association of Amalpoppu also are requesting the High Court,
which is located in Mumbasa, capital city of Pappaivastu, that direction shall be issued
against the Controller of Patent to set aside the patent in furtherance of the Post Grant
Patent Proceedings.

20.

Additionally, they believe that the grant of Patent will be against the public interest as the
cost of the Bakamotradus Gel manufactured by the Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. is too high and
looking at the nature of the growing problem of the fungus Modadotrus, they will not be
in a position to continue the cultivation of Pappaya, which will deny them right to
livelihood and follow their traditional business. Due to the soil texture and weather of
Amalpoppu the farmers cannot cultivate any other crop but Pappaya. Moreover,
considering that they are agrarian economy, the farmers have no other skill set to even
start an alternative business.

21.

On the other side, Oddocare Pharma Ltd. is now refusing the acceptance of fruits from the
farmers on the ground that the process under the manual is not followed by the farmers
and they adopted the application of Gel given by Satish and it may have affected the
quality of the Anicylin as the method applied is not scientific. Farmers Association filed
litigation against Oddocare Pharma Ltd. and Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. asking for the
compensation and restitution of the contract. But the District Court of Amalpoppu gave
the decision in favour of Oddocare Pharma Ltd. and Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. on the ground
that Cl.6 of the Agreement between Oddocare Pharma Ltd. and the farmers was not
complied with by the farmers.

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22.

The Controller passed an order for Compulsory Licensing against the Bakamotradus
Gel of Giant Pharma Pvt. Ltd. because of a litigation filed by FarmCare. The
Government of Mahan is in the process of giving the license of manufacturing the
Bakamotradus Gel in favour of Oddocare Pharma Ltd. without any tender.

23.

Satish and Farmers Association find the action of the Government to be arbitrary and
they also want to challenge it on the count that his process of manufacturing Gel is even
more cost effective and faster than that of Bakamotradus Gel. Farmers Association and
Satish are challenging the same in the High Court on the basis of arbitrariness and
violation of Right of Equality as the license of manufacturing could be given in favour of
SatPharma (OPC) Pvt. Ltd.

24.

The Orders passed by Controller were upheld as it is by MIPAB (Mahan Intellectual

Property Appellant Board) and now they are open for a challenge in the High Court of
Mumbasa. Famers Association of Amalpoppu also has preferred an appeal against the
order passed by the Amalpoppu District Court in relation to the restitution of contract in
the High Court of Mumbasa. The High Court clubbed all the matters for a common
hearing.

DISCLAIMER:
1. The Laws of Mahan are para materia to Laws of India. However all Common Law
Precedents have equal persuasive value.
2. Questions relating to jurisdiction of the High Court to hear the matter may be raised.
3. The participants are free to draft issues according to the given factual matrix.
4. The participants are expected to bring to the courts attention the relevant
jurisprudence. It may include judgements and opinions delivered by Courts of
Common Law Nations.
5. The participants have to demonstrate with cogent reasons as to why a principle of law
derived from precedent or otherwise is logical and the most desirable one.
6. Any participant contacting the Problem Framer will be disqualified from the
Elimination.
7. All characters, facts and circumstances are fictional in nature and do not resemble any
natural person, living or dead and/or any judicial case, in any court.

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