Srishti Roy Barman, Hidayatullah National Law University, Naya Raipur
ABSTRACT
A sudden outbreak of coronavirus has put the world at halt. There has been a continuous debate amongst legal scholars and foreign governments to suspend the patent rights amidst Pandemic. According to article 7 of TRIPS agreement, the objective of an intellectual property regulation is to bring a balance of rights and obligations. One of the many mechanisms is compulsory license under patents. India is a member of the TRIPS agreement. Compulsory license as per the Indian Patent Act,1970, are permissions given to a third party by Controller General of Patents to use, make, sell a product or use a process that has been patented to make a certain product. As declared by World Health Organization that “COVID-19 is a pandemic”, India is willing to use compulsory license enshrined under the national legislation, on the other hand, last year India along with South Africa proposed a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights. The patents waiver if approved would allow developing nations to cope up with Pandemic. The article will discuss in brief Doha Declaration and TRIPS agreement on compulsory license. The article will analyze the origin and history of compulsory license in India. The article will study the impact of COVID-19 on pharmaceutical industry and highlight the contradictions involving TRIPS flexibilities and compulsory license in India.
Keywords: Patents, compulsory license , TRIPS, waiver.
