Prospects and Limits of the Patent Provision in the TRIPS Agreement: The Case of India

This Article analyzes the impact of TRIPS on the pharmaceutical industry in India, an industry that has traditionally taken a "free-ride" on the technological developments of other nations. The authors discuss the patent system in India prior to TRIPS and India's long-term refusal to join the Paris Convention regarding intellectual property. In the past, India had limited protection for technology. Some areas--food, pharmaceuticals, and products made by processes--received no patent protection at all.

TRIPS changed this system and also changed the compulsory licensing and license of right provisions that limited patent protection in India. The authors argue that all people--scientists in India and abroad, as well as Indian consumers--will eventually benefit from the new system so long as India subsidizes drug costs for the very poorest consumers.