Whether Indian Patent Act TRIPs compliant for Pharmaceutical Business: A Case-based approach

Abstract

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement was negotiated during Uruguay round and GATT was replaced by WTO. All the signatory countries had to abide to the norms of the agreement. They were asked to modify their national IP laws as per the requirement. India too incorporated the required changes and finally, Indian patent act became TRIPs compliant in 2005. Although, it was claimed that India has designed its action in a most exhaustive form still, Indian companies face lot of litigation suits concerning infringement of patented products. Issues were raised at international forums stating that Indian IP laws are not fully TRIPs compliant and lot of flexibilities are given for the domestic firms which creates an unequal platform for trade. In order to reach to the substantial-conclusion on the impact of TRIPs implementation on the functioning of Indian pharmaceutical industry (IPI) and the impact it may carry with respect to the socio-economic life of the citizens of India. The study considered some of the court cases related to the infringement of patents that were raised in Indian court by MNC’s along with their decision. Through these cases and the judgements thereafter it was found out that Indian patent act is well in place and judiciary plays an important role in monitoring its effective implementation.