Access to affordable drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and other diseases is increasingly challenging in many developing countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and India. These challenges are in part the result of strengthened patent laws mandated by the 1994 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) treaty. However, there are underutilized instruments within TRIPS that governments can use to limit the adverse effects of patent protection and thereby ensure a supply of affordable generic drugs to their people. One such instrument is compulsory licensing, which allows generic manufacturers to produce pharmaceutical products that are currently subject to patent protection. Compulsory licensing has been used by a number of countries in the last few years, including the United States, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, and Thailand, and is particularly significant for countries such as India, where large numbers of people are infected with HIV. This Article explores the feasibility of compulsory licensing as a tool to facilitate access to essential medicines within the current patent regime in India, drawing on the experiences of other countries.
Matched MeSH terms: Patents as Topic/legislation & jurisprudence*
Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, is known internationally for its rich rain forests, flora and fauna. Its rain forests, occupying two-thirds of its geographical area shelters 2500 tree species, 5500 flowering plants and over 20 000 different kinds of animals and insects. Such abundance of plants, and in particular, in the variety thereof, have attracted the attention of scientists involved in the field of research into their potential medicinal value. Recent discovery that two species of Calophyllum tree in the rain forests of Sarawak produce active anti-HIV agents, has, no doubt, intensified interest in the State's plant resources for scientific research.
Matched MeSH terms: Patents as Topic/legislation & jurisprudence
Brook Baker describes the potential harms to global health from the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement and its failure to balance the interests of patients and the public with those of industry.
Matched MeSH terms: Patents as Topic/legislation & jurisprudence