Holger Hestermeyer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199552177
- eISBN:
- 9780191706936
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199552177.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
This chapter starts by demonstrating in economic terms that pharmaceutical patents result in higher prices in developing countries, thus constituting a barrier to access to medicine in those ...
More
This chapter starts by demonstrating in economic terms that pharmaceutical patents result in higher prices in developing countries, thus constituting a barrier to access to medicine in those countries. It shows that this barrier is not justified under human rights law. Neither a human rights protection of inventors, nor the incentive function of patents for encouraging future research can justify patents in the developing world. The chapter then defines the term ‘conflict’ between international regimes and shows that such a conflict exists between the TRIPS Agreement and access to medicine, as an instance of a larger conflict between the WTO Agreements and international human rights law.Less
This chapter starts by demonstrating in economic terms that pharmaceutical patents result in higher prices in developing countries, thus constituting a barrier to access to medicine in those countries. It shows that this barrier is not justified under human rights law. Neither a human rights protection of inventors, nor the incentive function of patents for encouraging future research can justify patents in the developing world. The chapter then defines the term ‘conflict’ between international regimes and shows that such a conflict exists between the TRIPS Agreement and access to medicine, as an instance of a larger conflict between the WTO Agreements and international human rights law.
Michael Freeman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199545520
- eISBN:
- 9780191721113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545520.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Medical Law
This chapter considers a case study of global pharmaceutical patents to examine possible engagements between law, in particular human rights law, and bioethics. It argues that current theories of ...
More
This chapter considers a case study of global pharmaceutical patents to examine possible engagements between law, in particular human rights law, and bioethics. It argues that current theories of public health law rarely address the interdependency between law at the national and international levels. But one cannot ‘isolate a state from its global interactions and focus on the relationship between law and public health within impermeable [national] borders’. There is a need for a ‘globalized theory of public health law’, which would include multinational organizations within its parameters.Less
This chapter considers a case study of global pharmaceutical patents to examine possible engagements between law, in particular human rights law, and bioethics. It argues that current theories of public health law rarely address the interdependency between law at the national and international levels. But one cannot ‘isolate a state from its global interactions and focus on the relationship between law and public health within impermeable [national] borders’. There is a need for a ‘globalized theory of public health law’, which would include multinational organizations within its parameters.
Prashant Reddy T. and Sumathi Chandrashekaran
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199470662
- eISBN:
- 9780199088850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199470662.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
After Independence in 1947 from the British, the new Indian government began to seriously examine the possibility and suitability of completely doing away with patents for pharmaceutical inventions. ...
More
After Independence in 1947 from the British, the new Indian government began to seriously examine the possibility and suitability of completely doing away with patents for pharmaceutical inventions. The process took over 22 years. It began in 1948, with the constitution of the Tek Chand Committee, followed by the Ayyangar Committee in 1957. Based on these expert committees, the government made three legislative efforts in 1953, 1965, and 1967, the last of which was finally enacted into the Patents Act, 1970. This new law revoked the British-era Patents and Designs Act, 1911 and prohibited patents for all new pharmaceutical products and severely restricted the scope of patents granted for pharmaceutical processes. This chapter traces the history of the Indian debate from 1948 to 1970 and explains the key arguments through archival news material, parliamentary debates, reports, and depositions.Less
After Independence in 1947 from the British, the new Indian government began to seriously examine the possibility and suitability of completely doing away with patents for pharmaceutical inventions. The process took over 22 years. It began in 1948, with the constitution of the Tek Chand Committee, followed by the Ayyangar Committee in 1957. Based on these expert committees, the government made three legislative efforts in 1953, 1965, and 1967, the last of which was finally enacted into the Patents Act, 1970. This new law revoked the British-era Patents and Designs Act, 1911 and prohibited patents for all new pharmaceutical products and severely restricted the scope of patents granted for pharmaceutical processes. This chapter traces the history of the Indian debate from 1948 to 1970 and explains the key arguments through archival news material, parliamentary debates, reports, and depositions.
Prashant Reddy T. and Sumathi Chandrashekaran
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199470662
- eISBN:
- 9780199088850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199470662.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
The signing of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement at Marrakesh in 1994 marked the beginning of a new international IP regime. As per Article 27 of the Agreement on Trade-Related ...
More
The signing of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement at Marrakesh in 1994 marked the beginning of a new international IP regime. As per Article 27 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), no member could discriminate among different technologies under their domestic patent law. India was, therefore, under an obligation to amend its domestic patent law to once again recognize pharmaceutical patents. After an initial failure to amend its domestic law, India was sued by the US and EU before the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the WTO. Under the threat of WTO-authorised trade sanctions, India began the process of amending its patent law over three phases. This chapter explains the stormy decade between the signing of the Marrakesh Agreement and the enactment of the Patent (Amendment) Act, 2005 which finally recognized pharmaceutical patents with the caveat of Section 3(d).Less
The signing of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement at Marrakesh in 1994 marked the beginning of a new international IP regime. As per Article 27 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), no member could discriminate among different technologies under their domestic patent law. India was, therefore, under an obligation to amend its domestic patent law to once again recognize pharmaceutical patents. After an initial failure to amend its domestic law, India was sued by the US and EU before the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the WTO. Under the threat of WTO-authorised trade sanctions, India began the process of amending its patent law over three phases. This chapter explains the stormy decade between the signing of the Marrakesh Agreement and the enactment of the Patent (Amendment) Act, 2005 which finally recognized pharmaceutical patents with the caveat of Section 3(d).
Prashant Reddy T. and Sumathi Chandrashekaran
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199470662
- eISBN:
- 9780199088850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199470662.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
The Patents Act, 1970 and its virtual abolition of a pharmaceutical patent regime did not go unchallenged by the innovator pharmaceutical industry of the developed world. Starting in the mid-1980s, ...
More
The Patents Act, 1970 and its virtual abolition of a pharmaceutical patent regime did not go unchallenged by the innovator pharmaceutical industry of the developed world. Starting in the mid-1980s, the United States (US) spearheaded an effort to link trade in goods with trade in intellectual property under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Although India initially resisted even discussing the issue, it capitulated in Geneva in April 1989 in what came to be known as the famous ‘Geneva Surrender’. Once negotiations began, the USt cajoled India to agree to Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and a pharmaceutical patent regime. Joining the WTO and becoming a signatory to TRIPS required India to reinstate a pharmaceutical patent regime in exchange for greater trading benefits in other sectors, like textiles. This chapter recounts the diplomatic negotiations and national politics that led to India agreeing to TRIPS.Less
The Patents Act, 1970 and its virtual abolition of a pharmaceutical patent regime did not go unchallenged by the innovator pharmaceutical industry of the developed world. Starting in the mid-1980s, the United States (US) spearheaded an effort to link trade in goods with trade in intellectual property under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Although India initially resisted even discussing the issue, it capitulated in Geneva in April 1989 in what came to be known as the famous ‘Geneva Surrender’. Once negotiations began, the USt cajoled India to agree to Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and a pharmaceutical patent regime. Joining the WTO and becoming a signatory to TRIPS required India to reinstate a pharmaceutical patent regime in exchange for greater trading benefits in other sectors, like textiles. This chapter recounts the diplomatic negotiations and national politics that led to India agreeing to TRIPS.
Prashant Reddy T. and Sumathi Chandrashekaran
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199470662
- eISBN:
- 9780199088850
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199470662.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
In 1947, a newly independent India was saddled with a host of intellectual property (IP) laws left behind by the British. In the following decades, India broke away from colonial IP legacies, while ...
More
In 1947, a newly independent India was saddled with a host of intellectual property (IP) laws left behind by the British. In the following decades, India broke away from colonial IP legacies, while navigating international treaty negotiations in the light of its redefined national interests. These changes affected ordinary lives—be it through medicines, music, movies, books, food, yoga, or the Internet—but have never been narrated to a larger audience. This book unravels the development of India’s IP law and policy in modern times, in a form and style designed for the general reader. The chapters in the book centre on different industries and sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, book publishing, cinema, music, the Internet, food, yoga, and traditional knowledge. Each chapter features a lively narrative that has been constructed from various sources, including parliamentary debates, expert reports, interviews, archival research, and case law. The book’s unique focus is on the politics and history of Indian IP, rather than the black letter of the law.Less
In 1947, a newly independent India was saddled with a host of intellectual property (IP) laws left behind by the British. In the following decades, India broke away from colonial IP legacies, while navigating international treaty negotiations in the light of its redefined national interests. These changes affected ordinary lives—be it through medicines, music, movies, books, food, yoga, or the Internet—but have never been narrated to a larger audience. This book unravels the development of India’s IP law and policy in modern times, in a form and style designed for the general reader. The chapters in the book centre on different industries and sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, book publishing, cinema, music, the Internet, food, yoga, and traditional knowledge. Each chapter features a lively narrative that has been constructed from various sources, including parliamentary debates, expert reports, interviews, archival research, and case law. The book’s unique focus is on the politics and history of Indian IP, rather than the black letter of the law.
