The signing of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS Agreement) was a landmark development in the field of intellectual property rights (IPRs) for various signatories to the same. The TRIPS Agreement brought the “harmonisation” of IPRs regime world over and became an internationally acceptable standard regarding IPRs protection.
However, it was subsequently felt that “public health” aspect needs a less stringent IPRs regime. The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health was adopted by World Trade Organisation (WTO) to meet the public health objective.
To further, strengthen this public health initiative, a Political Declaration was adopted in the UN General Assembly on 10th June 2011 on HIV/AIDS. This declaration, inter alia, recognised the importance of affordable medicines, including generics in scaling up access to affordable HIV treatment.
It mentions that protection and enforcement measures for intellectual property rights should be compliant with TRIPS Agreement and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of the right of Member States to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all.
However, the underlying principle of India’s negotiating strategy on issues relating to IPR is that commitments will have to be fully circumscribed by TRIPS and the present domestic legal framework for IPR in India.
