In a case that may have world-wide ramifications the Supreme Court of India has ruled in Novartis AG v. Natco Pharma Ltd. that Novartis’ patent on the drug Glivec was not valid because it represented only an incremental improvement on the original drug.  This represents a challenge to pharaceutical companies that routinely “over-green” or create slightly modified versions of, older drugs whose patents are about to expire in order to maintain the drug’s protected status.