The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India

The impact of intellectual property rights in particular patent relating to public health has posed numerous challenges faced by developing countries who are members of World Trade Organisation (WTO).This paper examines the impact of TRIPS Agreement (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) in re...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shanmugaiah, Kamini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UUM College of Law, Government and International Studies 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/15685/1/JLS%202012%201.pdf
_version_ 1803627018394271744
author Shanmugaiah, Kamini
author_facet Shanmugaiah, Kamini
author_sort Shanmugaiah, Kamini
collection UUM
description The impact of intellectual property rights in particular patent relating to public health has posed numerous challenges faced by developing countries who are members of World Trade Organisation (WTO).This paper examines the impact of TRIPS Agreement (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) in relation to developing countries in general with specifi cation made to India.Significant changes brought about by the TRIPS fl exibilities in particular usage of compulsory licensing and Bolar provision have to a certain extent benefited the developing countries in the field of public health during national emergency.The TRIPS flexibilities by way of amendment have helped countries that (do not possess manufacturing capacities) to import medicines. Some developing countries even utilised TRIPS fl exibilities in an aggressive manner to enforce their right to have access to medicines from other countries for the benefi t of their citizens.Further, TRIPs fl exibilities have helped developing countries to manufacture generic products to make it affordable to the people.This paper specifi cally examines the impact of the TRIPS Agreement on Indian generic pharmaceutical industry and the legal challenges faced by Indian pharmaceutical industry after the implementation of product patent regime effective from 1 January 2005.The Patent Amendment Act 2005(India) will be looked into especially on the controversy in respect of Section 3(d) of the Patent Amendment Act 2005(India) on the requirement of patentability.The new Section 92A of the Patent Amendment Act 2005(India) on the grounds to invoke compulsory licensing will be analysed to see whether Indian government has applied restrictive or broad approach, as compulsory licensing is certainly an important legal weapon for India to manufacture affordable generic medicines.The current challenges faced by India on data exclusivity provision often described as the TRIPS PLUS standard is impliedly stated in Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement on undisclosed information.India needs to achieve legal certainty in complying with the TRIPS Agreement and also bearing in mind the TRIPS-PLUS standards before adopting those TRIPS provisions into its patent law legislation in order to promote innovation and to achieve public health as well as to serve the interest of the developing countries
first_indexed 2024-07-04T05:59:23Z
format Article
id uum-15685
institution Universiti Utara Malaysia
language English
last_indexed 2024-07-04T05:59:23Z
publishDate 2012
publisher UUM College of Law, Government and International Studies
record_format dspace
spelling uum-156852015-10-12T08:40:38Z https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/15685/ The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India Shanmugaiah, Kamini K Law (General) The impact of intellectual property rights in particular patent relating to public health has posed numerous challenges faced by developing countries who are members of World Trade Organisation (WTO).This paper examines the impact of TRIPS Agreement (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) in relation to developing countries in general with specifi cation made to India.Significant changes brought about by the TRIPS fl exibilities in particular usage of compulsory licensing and Bolar provision have to a certain extent benefited the developing countries in the field of public health during national emergency.The TRIPS flexibilities by way of amendment have helped countries that (do not possess manufacturing capacities) to import medicines. Some developing countries even utilised TRIPS fl exibilities in an aggressive manner to enforce their right to have access to medicines from other countries for the benefi t of their citizens.Further, TRIPs fl exibilities have helped developing countries to manufacture generic products to make it affordable to the people.This paper specifi cally examines the impact of the TRIPS Agreement on Indian generic pharmaceutical industry and the legal challenges faced by Indian pharmaceutical industry after the implementation of product patent regime effective from 1 January 2005.The Patent Amendment Act 2005(India) will be looked into especially on the controversy in respect of Section 3(d) of the Patent Amendment Act 2005(India) on the requirement of patentability.The new Section 92A of the Patent Amendment Act 2005(India) on the grounds to invoke compulsory licensing will be analysed to see whether Indian government has applied restrictive or broad approach, as compulsory licensing is certainly an important legal weapon for India to manufacture affordable generic medicines.The current challenges faced by India on data exclusivity provision often described as the TRIPS PLUS standard is impliedly stated in Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement on undisclosed information.India needs to achieve legal certainty in complying with the TRIPS Agreement and also bearing in mind the TRIPS-PLUS standards before adopting those TRIPS provisions into its patent law legislation in order to promote innovation and to achieve public health as well as to serve the interest of the developing countries UUM College of Law, Government and International Studies 2012 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/15685/1/JLS%202012%201.pdf Shanmugaiah, Kamini (2012) The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India. UUM Journal of Legal Studies, 2012 (3). pp. 51-76. ISSN 2229-984X http://www.uumjls.com/UUM_Journal_of_Legal_Studies.html
spellingShingle K Law (General)
Shanmugaiah, Kamini
The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India
title The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India
title_full The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India
title_fullStr The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India
title_full_unstemmed The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India
title_short The impact of TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines in developing countries: Legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in India
title_sort impact of trips agreement on access to medicines in developing countries legal challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in india
topic K Law (General)
url https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/15685/1/JLS%202012%201.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT shanmugaiahkamini theimpactoftripsagreementonaccesstomedicinesindevelopingcountrieslegalchallengesfacedbythepharmaceuticalindustryparticularlyinindia
AT shanmugaiahkamini impactoftripsagreementonaccesstomedicinesindevelopingcountrieslegalchallengesfacedbythepharmaceuticalindustryparticularlyinindia