indiaspatentpolicyandnegotiationsintrips.doc

India’s Patent Policy and Negotiations in TRIPs: Future Options for India and other Developing Countries Dr. Anitha Ramanna( It is an opportune moment for India and other developing countries to review and consolidate their strategies on intellectual property rights in the WTO. Recent developments relating to TRIPs have witnessed some important gains for developing countries. In the Doha WTO Ministerial, developing countries were able to ensure that a Declaration on TRIPs and Public Health was passed. In 2001 within the FAO, countries agreed on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture that aims to promote access to crops important for food security and transfer of benefits from the commercialisation of crops back to farmers. Within and outside the WTO, there is a greater acceptance that TRIPs must be implemented in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and that the importance of traditional knowledge should be recognized. These developments provide the momentum upon which developing countries can build future strategies. India’s domestic policy and international negotiations on one aspect of IPRs, patents, provides important lessons for formulating a comprehensive negotiating strategy on TRIPs. India’s negotiating history shows that while trade threats were important in leading India to initiate changes in its policy globally, domestic level policy change took place only with the mobilization of a domestic constituency that favoured change. Support from developing countries, disunity among advanced nations and the role of NGOs were also factors that enabled India to promote its interests in the negotiations. India’s position in the field of patents, in terms of patent applications reveals that few domestic firms have the capacity to transform potential into patent activity at least in the short-term. Policy and negotiating strategies must therefore focus on ensuring access for the majority. This pote