EDEN IAS

Menu
INDIAN PATENT REGIME AND ITS CLASH WITH THE U.S. NORMS

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS | INDIAN PATENT REGIME AND ITS CLASH WITH THE U.S. NORMS | 10TH JUNE | THE HINDU

/ June, 2022, UPSC Daily Current Affairs

SYLLABUS SECTION: GS II (INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS)

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, in a report released by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), it was said that India is one of the most challenging major economies as far as IP protection and enforcement are concern in the INDIAN PATENT REGIME AND ITS CLASH WITH THE U.S. NORMS.

  • It has retained India on its Priority Watch List along with six other countries-Argentina, Chile, China, Indonesia, Russia, and Venezuela.

ISSUES REGARDING PATENT PROTECTION:

  • Concerns about what can be patented,
  • Waiting time for obtaining patents,
  • Burdensome reporting requirements, and
  • Doubts about data safety.
  • copyright and piracy to trademark counterfeiting and trade secrets,

INDIAN PATENT REGIME

  • A patent is an exclusive set of rights granted for an invention, which may be a product or process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
  • Indian patents are governed by the Indian Patent Act of 1970.
  • India became a party to the Trade­ Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement following its membership to the World Trade Organisation on January 1, 1995
  • India is also a signatory to several IPR-related conventions, including the Berne Convention, which governs copyright, the Budapest Treaty, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), all of which govern various patent-related matters
  • The original Indian Patents Act did not grant patent protection to pharmaceutical products to ensure that medicines were available at low prices.
  • Patent protection of pharmaceuticals was re­introduced after the 2005 amendments to comply with TRIPS.
ARTICLE 3(D) OF THE INDIAN PATENT ACT
  • It offered insight into the landscape of Indian intellectual property law and where it is reasonably in sync with American patent laws and where it diverges.
  • The main points of contention between India and the U.S. have been Article 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act.
  • Section 3(d) in particular excludes:
  1. the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance that does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or
  2. the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance or
  3. of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant” from being eligible for protection under patent law

 

Significance of Article 3(d)
  • This section “acts as a safeguard against frivolous inventions in accordance with the flexibility provided in the Trips Agreement.
  • This prevents the evergreening of patents.
  • Section 3(d) allows for generic competition by patenting only novel and genuine inventions.
  • INDIAN PATENT REGIME AND ITS CLASH WITH THE U.S. NORMS.
TRIPS AND THE DOHA DECLARATION
  • The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health was adopted on November 14, 2021, by the WTO member states.

Aim: 

  • To guarantee minimum standards of IP protection
  • Provide legal consistency that enables innovators to monetize their intellectual property in multiple countries.
Areas covered:
  • copyright and related rights (i.e. the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations);
  • trademarks including service marks;
  • geographical indications including appellations of origin;
  • industrial designs;
  • patents including the protection of new varieties of plants;
  • the layout designs of integrated circuits;
  • undisclosed information including trade secrets and test data.

Read more: UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS

Source: The Hindu