They say drug companies' recent discounting was only in response to an offer of low-priced AIDS drugs by a generic manufacturer in India. But under Trips, India and other countries will have to enforce patents by 2005 or 2006. Moreover, in many countries of Africa besides South Africa, AIDS drugs are not patented. Drug companies and some experts argue further that if developing countries honor patents, drug companies will have more incentive to develop treatments for tropical diseases. But others say what deters companies from developing those drugs is the small market size.
Patents award an inventor exclusive rights to make or sell a product for a set period.
In countries that adhere to the Trips agreement, patents run for 20 years from the filing of the application. Patents provide an incentive for innovation, and in return, the invention is publicly disclosed so others can learn from it. Drug companies argue that they need patents because it can take more than a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and test a drug, which can be copied relatively easily once it is on the market. Many countries have viewed drugs as meriting exceptions to patent law because of their importance to public health. But with trade agreements like Trips, countries have tightened their patent protection.