HealthLawProf Blog

Editor: Katharine Van Tassel
Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Patent Laws and the Public Health Puzzle: Comparing India’s Well-Thought-Out Patent Opposition Model with the U.S. and EU Model

Muhammad Zaheer Abbas (Queensland University of Technology), Patent Laws and the Public Health Puzzle: Comparing India’s Well-Thought-Out Patent Opposition Model with the U.S. and EU Model, 13 Indian J. Intell. Prop. L. (2023):

Equitable access to essential medicines is a long-standing policy challenge. The patent opposition mechanism of India demonstrates how this procedural flexibility can be used to improve access to innovative health technologies. The Indian approach of linking its substantive patentability provisions with the procedural mechanism of patent opposition shows that this strategic use of public health flexibilities provided under the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has the potential to reduce some of the financial burdens on governments because of its role in promoting generic competition. This article revisits how the Indian patent laws evolved while keeping a balance between conflicting interests. It offers an informative and analytical look at legislative changes in India in order to comply with the WTO TRIPS Agreement. This article considers the Indian patent opposition model in comparison with the U.S. and EU approaches towards patent opposition. This analysis of India’s TRIPS-compliant regime will help other WTO Member States to model their patent laws in line with their public health needs and national interests.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/healthlawprof_blog/2024/05/patent-laws-and-the-public-health-puzzle-comparing-indias-well-thought-out-patent-opposition-model-w.html

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