PATENT LAW AND PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS

Abstract

The issue concerning patent and the worthiness of communal health is highly debated across plenty parts of the globe and most of all in India. The necessity to foster innovation in the pharmaceutical sector in this instance, tends to conflict with the right to access and affordable healthcare (Roy et al., 2023). The political debate on intellectual property rights gives a glimpse of this controversy. There have been several criticisms on patent protections that relate to pharmaceuticals to potentially limit the availability of cheaper medical alternatives, especially in third world countries (Roy et al., 2023). The aspect of patent waiver combined with mandatory licensing is of particular interest now that the issue of inequality in distributing the vaccination and treatment became especially prominent due to the COVID-19 crisis which took place recently (Garattini and Finazzi, 2021)(Kang, 2023). Our next chapter addresses the finer details of these patent laws in India and the act of Indian patent in the year 1970. It discusses their provisions and amendments relative to international commitments and obligations such as the TRIPS Agreement and their important implications on the health of the population. How India has traditionally managed this challenging situation and how it has struck a balance between ensuring intellectual property protection and its constitutional obligation to address the needs of the nation will also be discussed. It will also discuss about certain aspects of Indian patent law like Compulsory licensing and parallel importation and how either of them contributes to the procurement of childhood medicines (Ramachandran, 2020) (Abbas, 2021). Additionally the chapter will examine the role and contribution of India as a significant manufacturer of pharmaceutical in the globe that is also referred to as the pharmacy of the world and the influence of the world on it in terms of health. The impact of the tremendous amendments made to the Patents Act of 1970 in particular and the impact of TRIPS Agreement to the local pharmaceutical industry and its capacity to offer cheap prescriptive drugs will be discussed (Ramachandran, 2020). It will be skeptical on whether these laws actually work to better health outcomes of the population as well as acknowledge also the necessity of the commercial incentives to continue pharmaceutical innovation (Garattini and Finazzi, 2021). In this chapter I will elaborate on why it is needful to do more to promote research and development as well as why it is needful to at the same time explain why it is only important that this protection does not unnecessary restrict access to important medicines particularly to vulnerable groups.