The WTO and India's Pharmaceuticals Industry
Subtitle: Patent Protection, TRIPS, and Developing Countries
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: October 27, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 376
ISBN-13: 9780195674828
Subjects: International trade; Pharmaceutical industries; Business & Economics; Business / Economics / Finance; Business/Economics; Industrial Management; Business & Economics / Industrial Management; Drugs; India; Law and legislation; Patents; Pharmaceutical industry
Description: The establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 brought about significant changes in international economic relations between countries. To comply with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of the WTO, India introduced product patent protection in pharmaceuticals from January 2005. TRIPS has generated a huge controversy in India and abroad. India has emerged as a major source of low-cost, quality drugs for the entire world and thus plays an important role. While there are a large number of pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world, only a handful of multinationals dominate the industry. By using patent rights, multinational companies prevented developing countries like India from realizing their potential of industrial growth and drug prices were among the highest in the world.