TradeMarx |Who’s Idea Was It Anyway? A Primer on Contemporary IPR

Since intellectual property and ideas are becoming a huge part of contemporary economic activities, it is necessary for there to be protection for intellectual property. This is the job of intellectual property regulations. On the international level, this becomes an issue of some import.

India is not only a member of the WTO but also has agreed to follow its IP regulations — the TRIPS agreement. This means that it must follow international norms for IP rights. In many ways however it is failing to comply with these norms.

For starters, there is no evergreening of patents in India. This means that one firm cannot continually renew patents for its products forever. On the one hand it makes markets more competitive. On the other hand it decreases the returns from innovation, in theory, disincentivizing research.

Further there is also the issue of the efficacy of these norms in the first place. By protecting intellectual property, the TRIPS agreement is coming in the way of technology transfer which would allow countries in the global south to catch up to the global north. This is why some argue for the removal of IPR.

Either way, at the moment India stands between these two options. It may either favour domestic producers and fall out of the TRIPS, or it may seek to comply entirely with the TRIPS to reap the full benefits of the agreement. Which side the State takes will not only impact foreign trade but domestic production for years to come.