Transparency V. Secrecy: A Comparative Study Of Patent And Trade Secret In The Pharmaceutical Industry
- IJLLR Journal
- Jan 17
- 2 min read
Sachin S, LLM, School of Law, Christ (Deemed To Be University), Bangalore
ABTRACT
The pharmaceutical industry stands at a key position in terms of protecting the health of the population, and at the same time, this industry is based on the need to use the protection of intellectual property to promote innovation and recover research and development costs. Patent and trade secrets are the two of the most important mechanisms that can be applied in the context of the pharmaceutical industry and replace other types of intellectual property. The given paper will make a comparative study of patents and trade secrets in the pharmaceutical industry that will focus on how these concepts relate to the consumer protection rights. The research paper examines the difference between the two regimes in terms of disclosure requirements, period, exclusivity, and regulation and determines the impact made by the difference on access to medicines, affordability, transparency, and consumer well-being.
Pharmaceutical patents have a comparatively short period in exchange to public disclosure, which fosters openness, permits regulatory control, permits entry of generic drugs post-patent, and provides protection measures as compulsory licensing, and Public interest exceptions to ensure consumer access to medicines. By contrast, trade secrets provide possibly endless protection without disclosure and are being exploited to provide protection to manufacturing process, clinical trial information, and pricing strategies with grave concerns to consumer protection because of the lack of disclosure, delay to generic competition as well as the absence of protection of the interests of the people. Regarding the issue of consumer protection, this comparison confirms a more balanced and responsible system offered by patents compared with trade secrets with regard to the necessity of legal changes and harmonized regulation that would preserve incentives to attract pharmaceutical innovation, transparency, affordability, and equitable access to pharmaceuticals.
Keywords: Pharmaceuticals, trade secret, Patents, consumer protection
