Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Research Articles

A Study of Global Trade War and Its Impact on Indian Economy

A Study of Global Trade War and Its Impact on Indian Economy

How to Study Global Lawmaking: Lessons from Intellectual Property Rights and International Health Emergencies

International agreements on Intellectual Property (IP) have proven to be a good example to study global lawmaking. Beginning by looking at the 1990s Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and into the negotiation and implementation of regional and national trade agreements, this article reflects on the intricate relationship between international IP agreements and public health. The comprehensive analysis of these international rules and their effect provides valuable insights into the dynamic interplay between domestic and international factors in shaping health policies. Building upon the IP case, we categorize existing scholarship on global lawmaking into three methodological approaches: ( a) methodological internationalism, ( b) methodological nationalism, and ( c) the interplay between domestic and international factors. We close with a call for researchers to advocate and integrate into their methods a co-constitutive approach that considers the simultaneous shaping of domestic and international elements.

CPEC AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS IN PAKISTAN

The "World Trade Organization (WTO)" is an organization that Pakistan is a part of, the primary goal of which is to improve international trade in a long-term, sustainable way. What's more, Pakistan stands behind the “Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Work of 1886” in addition to the “Universal Copyright Convention of 1952” and “The agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, 1995 (TRIPs)”. On 1st January 1995, Pakistan signed the “Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement)” with the “World Trade Organisations (WTO)” in terms of the protection afforded to intellectual property. The study is a mixed study focused on qualitative and quantitative studies and analyzed primary and secondary sources.

TRIPS and COVID-19 Vaccines: The New WTO TRIPS COVID-19 Waiver

The COVID-19 pandemic (coronavirus disease, previously known as novel coronavirus 2019) and the inequality of access to COVID-19 vaccines generated a proposal for a waiver by the World Trade Organization (WTO) of broad sections of the Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), on a time-limited basis. India and South Africa presented a proposal to that effect in October 2020. The text proposed was controversial, led to considerable debate in the TRIPS Council and eventually led to a lengthy stand-off in the TRIPS Council, from October 2020 until May 2021. The European Union and the United States were the principal (but not the only) WTO Members opposing this proposal. Following the transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration, the United States changed its position on a possible TRIPS COVID-19 waiver (in May 2021) and declared its willingness to engage in text-based negotiations. That prompted India and South Africa, together with other co-sponsors, to produce a somewhat revised version of their earlier proposal. Shortly after the change in the US position, the European Union presented an alternative proposal for a WTO COVID-19 waiver, in June 2021. It was only in the period of December 2021 to March 2022 that serious negotiations on the text of a TRIPS COVID-19 waiver took off, initially in ‘high-level group’, consisting of India, South Africa, the European Union and the United States. The outcome of these negotiations was taken to the TRIPS Council and resulted eventually in the adoption of a TRIPS COVID-19 waiver decision by the WTO Ministerial Conference, in June 2022. This article tracks the different proposals for a TRIPS waiver through their various phases, in a broader WTO and TRIPS context. It also evaluates the contributions of the different proposals to the final text of the TRIPS COVID-19 waiver decision and arrives at some conclusions as to the merits and significance of the resulting waiver. WTO, TRIPS, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, WTO Agreement, waiver

Impact of patent (Amendment) act, 2005 on Indian pharmaceutical industry with reference to R&D expenditure, profit, export and sales

The Indian pharmaceutical business is the world's third-largest pharmaceutical sector in terms of volume, but it ranks 14th in terms of value. The lower position in terms of value might be due to the fact that Indian pharmaceutical enterprises are mostly focused on low-cost generic pharmaceuticals, with a broad range of company sizes and product mix. Because of Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) restrictions, the Indian pharmaceutical business has undergone significant transformation since 1995. TRIPS ratification has had a considerable effect on Indian pharmaceutical industries. The effect of TRIPS on the Indian pharmaceutical industry’s R&D Expenditure, profit, export and sales is examined using a dummy variable in this research. Various industrial performance drivers, such as knowledge-based resources and property-based resources, are considered. The research considers a sample of 25 Indian pharmaceutical enterprises over a twenty-five year period (1996-2020). The results show that the Indian pharmaceutical industry is significantly impacted by TRIPS compliance. The findings of this study also emphasize the relative impact of various company resources on the performance of Indian pharmaceutical enterprises.

Comparative overview of enhancing Drug pricing transparency in India and USA

The United States and other different countries, drug prices are out of control. In that the prescription drug prices increasingly the medical costs and other different healthcare costs. The branded drugs are launched with high prices that increase by double percentage over year. So, many states and countries are focusing on new ways or new approaches to drug pricing problems using different ways and clarity about drug price transparency are mainly that the study about drug transparency and identify the cost key drivers. India is one of the world's developing countries. The ability to obtain health-related services at a reasonable cost is a major worry for them. As a result, medical costs are a determining element for health-care facilities, particularly when it comes to price management of health-care institutions with a greater budget. NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority) and DPCO (Department of Pharmaceutical Pricing and Control) are two Indian regulatory bodies that oversee pharmaceutical pricing (Drug Pricing control order). Despite the establishment of the DPCO, significant price fluctuation is observed between goods containing the same API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient), and various reasons are responsible for this. TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) offers Compulsory Licenses for which drugs have a distinctive function to play in the affordability of medicines to minimize the stated problem and govern the trade practice by patent holder/brand maker. Essential medicine is a basic requirement of the health-care system in order to serve its consumers, and as a result, an effective and overt price restriction on drugs is currently required.

Software protection and software piracy

AbstractThis paper explores the dynamic long‐term relationship between software protection and software piracy rates across 108 countries over the period of 20 years (1994–2015), with the help of the ARDL model. The analysis employs a new way of utilising the membership duration of Trade related Intellectual Property Rights agreement and World Intellectual Property Organisation Copyright Treaty agreements of different countries in a panel framework, apart from constructing an index of copyright software protection by focusing on enforcement provisions. The paper overcomes various shortcomings of earlier literatures by thoughtful inclusion of independent variables and methodological techniques. Results show that both copyright software protection and income share a negative long‐term relationship with software piracy. Even the enforcement provisions are important in mitigating software piracy. In addition, the model finds a negative relationship between demand for intellectual property protection and software piracy rates.

The Patent System During Global Pandemic and the Access to Medications and Vaccines

The Declaration on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Public Health Agreements want to promote the balanced interpretation and implementation of its provisions and promote universal access by assisting WTO members to protect public health rights. Two years will soon pass, and the emergence of new variants of COVID-19 shows that the virus will not stop at national borders. However, vaccines are gradually entering and almost monopolised by industrialised countries. If Jonas Salk thought in the 1950s that patenting his polio vaccine was like patenting the sun, the problem appearing is that today's patent holders do not think so. The COVID-19 vaccine is owned by biotech companies, universities, research institutes or pharmaceutical companies. The purpose of this research is to analyse, through a normative juridical approach, the requirement for patent holders to protect their intellectual property rights if they are to remain competitive in the marketplace. Not to forget that they must pay patent fees as a percentage of the final price of the vaccine, which is a significant benefit to the economies of the countries where they are located. While for developing countries, the best solution would be to produce their vaccines. With industrial property rights, it seems impossible to transfer the vaccine technology on COVID-19. That is why some developing countries (South Africa and India have the support of many other developing countries) have filed a complaint with the WTO, requesting a waiver of property rights under Article 31 of TRIPS in order to produce a COVID-19 vaccine on a large scale and at an affordable price.

COVID-19 and Global Distributive Justice: 'Health Diplomacy' of India and South Africa for the TRIPS waiver.

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had left heart-wrenching impacts on all facets of life in general and the availability, accessibility, and affordability of medicines and vaccines in particular. Rather, the world has been divided into two groups regarding access to medicine and vaccines as haves and have-nots. The rich countries had pre-ordered the vaccines of COVID-19 along with the holding of the same. The pandemic situation was further worsened, given the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in practice and restrictions on sharing technology of vaccines, medicines, and life-saving equipment. In this context, India and South Africa have proposed the joint proposal and garnered support for waiving off TRIPS to ensure equity, accessibility, and affordability of vaccines and the same as public goods. In this review, we emphasize that global justice is one of the important elements of normative international theories, which focus on all the moral obligations from the world's rich to the world's poor. The paper also questions and argues that if the rich countries fail to go by the principles of global justice, can the Indian and South African (SA) patent diplomacy play a catalyst role in global justice? The review concludes with an emphasis on global solidarity, and the acceptance of joint India-South Africa's "patent diplomacy" for TRIPS waiver would result in mass production and fair distribution, making the COVID-19 medicines and technologies available to everyone regardless of their poor-rich status.

Farmers’ Rights and Plant Breeders’ Rights under Indian Regulations of Plant Variety Protection: A TRIPS Compliant Harmonised Coexistence

India’s ‘Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001’ was enacted by its Parliament in accordance to the Article 27.3(b) of Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. In a significant deviation from the contemporary legislations around the world and also the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Acts (1973 and 1991), the PPV&FR Act is a sui generis option, that provides an effective system for the protection of plant varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders that encouraged development of new varieties as well as those which were in common knowledge of the farmers or were in the possession of farmers traditionally. This article explains how the Indian legislation is the best fit to match the requirements farmers as well as plant breeders, keeping in view the local agricultural situations, societal constitution and livelihood mechanisms, especially for small-holder farmers.

The ACWL’s Mandate to Provide Training on WTO Law: The ACWL’s Annual Training Course

The Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL) has a mandate to provide legal training on WTO law. The ACWL developed its first training course on WTO law in 2002. To date, the ACWL has conducted nineteen training courses. The ACWL structures its annual training courses on a three-year cycle. The first course covers the basic principles of WTO law, the second covers the WTO Agreements relating to trade remedies, trade in services and trade-related intellectual property rights, and the third covers WTO dispute settlement procedures. The training course is taught by ACWL lawyers and begins in October and ends in June the following year. Over the years, 955 delegates have registered their interest in attending the training courses, 159 of whom were from least-developed countries (LDCs.) The ACWL has provided Certificates of Attendance – given to delegates that attend a minimum number of training sessions each year – to 630 delegates, ninety six of whom were from LDCs. Feedback from former participants has been positive indicating that their participation in the ACWL’s training course(s) has assisted themselves and their government to better understand their rights and obligations under WTO law. Training, capacity building, ACWL, basic principles on WTO law, WTO agreements, Moot Court exercise, developing countries, least developed countries, Geneva-based delegates

Farmers' varieties to increase nutritional security, eco-system resiliency and farmers' income

The successful development and deployment of widely adapted, photo-thermo insensitive and input responsive high yielding varieties (HYVs) in cereals along with required inputs and favorable policy reforms heralded green revolution (GR) in the country which changed India's status from food unsecured food secured and food surplus nation. However, HYVs displaced the locally adapted, climate resilient and resource efficient, but low yielding farmer’s varieties (FVs) initially from the irrigated areas and later on from the risk prone, low input, marginal and rainfed areas but the HYVs/ hybrids could not replace FVs completely and FVs still occupy significant areas in different low input marginal areas and still providing valuable ecosystem's provisioning, regulating and cultural services. India being member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted and implemented Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in the form of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act (2001) and Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act (1999) known GIs to protect even FVs by providing PVP certificates and registered as Goods respectively by these legislations. FVs are also known to have special nutritional/medicinal/ therapeutic value in addition to adaptive traits have been protected either through PPV&FR Act or through GIs as Goods. Moreover, under GIs registration and protection FVs being having the heritage varietal status supposed to have high commercial values for trade like several kinds of Rice. Interestingly, in both legislative protections, Rice FVs dominate the scene. Virtually, the economical produce of FVs as Goods under GIs have domestic as well as international market and receive the premium prices. The FVs with special nutritional/aroma/medicinal traits with distinct identity and protected under PPV&FR Act, should also get higher economic returns if there is policy support by the Government. Currently, to mitigate the adverse effects due to climate change, breeding new varieties with specific instead of wide adaptation is advocated and the FVs by virtue of having specific adaptive traits as well as increased resource efficiency present themselves as ideal candidates for using as donors. The FVs can also be used for enhanced nutritional security as well as promoting agricultural trade to increase farmers' income.

Intellectual property: discrepancies between CDB and TRIPS, impacts on Brazil

Abstract This article aims to present the importance of the Agreement on Aspects of Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights - TRIPS, in the context of the main discussion that is its conflict with the Convention on Biological Diversity - CBD, of international law. It is necessary to make a brief history, from the beginning to the present, discussing the governing principles, the main effects of the agreement in developed and developing countries, particularly Brazil, and the internalization of the agreement on the Brazilian legal system, its application, the beginning , the effects and debates to understand the problem with the necessary necessary amplitude for the understanding of the subject.

Selected Developments in Biotechnology Law and the Biotechnology Industry

Selected Developments in Biotechnology Law and the Biotechnology Industry

Holding Up a Mirror to the World Trade Organization: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Holding Up a Mirror to the World Trade Organization: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

IPR Regime and Antitrust Implications of Mergers and Acquisitions: With a Focus on Software and Pharmaceutical Sector

This article seeks to analyze the trends and patterns of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) during the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights regime and addresses the antitrust issues related to innovation and competition in the framework of competition policy. Empirical evidence supports the view that enhancing size in terms of corporate control of equity, product market share, and innovation market share could be the motivations for the M&A phenomenon in the sector such as software and pharmaceuticals. These sectors were able to extract relatively more profit margin as compared to the manufacturing sector. This article further observes anticompetitive practices in terms of pricing and abuse of dominance in these two industries. The study argues for introducing regulatory mechanisms in the competition policy which could address the antitrust implications of M&As that are engaged in by knowledge-based firms and start-ups. This is because such acquisitions can reduce the incentives to innovate or change the innovative and competitive dynamics in the relevant market.

Discrimination of a selected set of turmeric, ginger, fenugreek and coriander varieties using ISSR markers

DNA fingerprints are unique to individuals and can be used to identify individuals as in the case of conventional fingerprints. Plant DNA fingerprinting make use of various molecular markers for identifying newly released crop varieties and are all the more important in plant variety registration under the PPV&FR Act of 2001. The trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) and the convention on biological diversity (CBD) insist on the establishment of identity and ownership of genotypes for enforcement of their provisions for securing protection to plant varieties as well as for regulating access to germplasm resources. DNA fingerprints, along with morphological markers, can be efficiently utilized for plant varietal identification, detection of duplicates and adulterants. Here in this particular study, the spice samples received at the DNA fingerprinting facility (DNAFF) of ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research (ICAR-IISR) from various centres of All India Coordinated Project on Spices (AICRPS) were DNA fingerprinted using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. The DNA profile of a candidate variety vis-a-vis check variety is an essential prerequisite during submission of proposal for release of crop variety to central sub-committee on crop standards notification and release of varieties. The new varieties of turmeric, ginger, coriander and fenugreek were compared with the closely resembling check varieties for establishing distinctness for varietal registration. A total of 118 ISSR primers were screened in the above-given crops, to identify the distinct markers identifying the candidate from the check varieties. Using this technique, the DNAFF at ICAR-IISR could facilitate registration of turmeric varieties, Roma, Rasmi and Suroma; ginger varieties Suruchi, Suravi and Suprabha; coriander varieties, Suguna, Susthira and Suruchi, while varieties of turmeric, Uttara Rupanjana and Uttara Ranjini; fenugreek variety Ajmer fenugreek (AFg-5); coriander varieties Ajmer coriander (ACr-2) and Chhattisgarh Shri Chandra Hasini dhaniya-2 (ICS-4) are in the process of getting registration. ISSR markers were found to be appropriate for establishing distinctness of the new varieties of spices for securing varietal registration.

The EU and China in International Negotiations on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights – Cooperation and Challenges

Abstract In the multilateral forum of the WTO, trade-related intellectual property issues constitute one of the reasons for the dilemma in Doha negotiations. It is interesting to note, however, an increasing convergence between the EU and China’s policies in supporting the improvement of international intellectual property (IP) protection, and these two actors have even formed an alliance to promote stronger protection for the geographical indications. In order to understand the EU’s and China’s standpoint in international IP regulatory cooperation, it is necessary to examine their interaction and proposals in the WTO framework. This examination will provide insight into the issues on which these two major actors are readily able to reach agreement. It will also reveal the issues on which their differences still remain or have gradually narrowed to facilitate a rapprochement of views; accordingly, this paper reviews cooperation between the EU and China in multilateral negotiations on genetic resources and protection of geographical indications. The study will further examine the challenges leading to obstruction of the Doha negotiations.

US–China Trade War An Impetus for New Norms on Technology Transfer

This article argues that the trade dispute between United States (US) and China should be an impetus for new rules and norms regarding technology transfer at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Technology transfer is a desirable outcome under WTO rules, including the Trade-Related Intellectual property Rights Agreement. However, Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) have failed to effectively promote and facilitate technology transfer. The problem lies in the nature of the intellectual property rights that TRIPs are intended to protect and enforce. Though necessary, by conferring exclusive rights to its holder, intellectual property rights have the unintended consequences of inhibiting competition and technology transfer. Furthermore, it may impede the transfer of technology from developed countries to developing countries where firms often lack the capacity to further innovate the technology it has acquired. This article proposes new norms at the WTO, in particular the TRIPs and SCM Agreement, to improve its efficacy in promoting and facilitating technology transfer.

De Jure Standard Setting in the Telecom Industry – Its Evolution and the Developing Country Case for Reform

The issue of technological standards has become increasingly important in the context of telecommunications technology. With every new generation of mobile technology, the issue of determining standards has become progressively more complicated. Most literature on this issue has focused on the standard setting process or the litigation that has resulted around the enforcement of patents over technical standards. There is, however, relatively little scholarship that studies the issue of standards through the prism of developing countries and the unique challenges they face in regulating technological standards which they are bound to protect under international IP agreements, despite the fact that they have little influence over the process by which these standards are set. The structure adopted by this chapter is as follows: Part I will provide a brief history of the standard development organisations in the context of the telecommunications industry, focussing on the demise of both, the ITU and the monopolies in the telecommunication industry. Part II will explain how the global intellectual property landscape has changed post the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and its impact on the standard debates from the perspective of developing countries. Part III will focus on the manner in which the de jure standard development process works and the commonly raised issues in this regard. Part IV will examine the challenges faced by developing countries like India in ex-post regulation of these standards. Part V will reflect on the lessons learnt and propose the manner in which developing countries may try regulating their standards.