Biswajit Sarkar Blog >Blogs>Patent> Impact of Patent Law on Economics Growth of India: An Analysis
Impact of Patent Law on Economics Growth of India: An Analysis

Impact of Patent Law on Economics Growth of India: An Analysis

INTRODUCTION

The intellectual property applies to the security of mind inventions. Under the legal system, the owners of such property shall be given special privileges that may be used for recognition or financial gain. Mechanisms in which intellectual property is protected, including copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications. IPR security has the capacity to promote innovation and the development of a well-functioning market system in developed countries that leads to economic growth. Protection of intellectual property plays a very important role in India. In the last two or three decades, a range of reforms has been made to IP policy and regulations in India to improve the protection of intellectual property, i.e. patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs and geographical indications. India signed the TRIPs Agreement in 1994, which came into force on 1 January 1995. In India, pharmaceutical patents were not issued prior to 1995, which changed after the entry into force of the TRIPs Agreement and adopted an amendment to the Patent Act of 1995 in 1970. Section 5 of the Patent Act, 1970, specified that patents were issued only for methods or processes and not for products which had been abolished following the 2005 amendment, and therefore patents are now granted not only for methods or processes but also for pharmaceutical products which had a very considerable effect on the growth of the economy. A patent is one of the most effective intellectual properties for economic growth. The number of Indian patent applications has risen in recent days compared to previous years and as a result, the economy is increasing. At present, well-established multinational corporations in India have clearly demonstrated the influence of intellectual property on the development of the economy in the country.

INDIAN PATENT POLICY IN PRE-TRIPS

India has a long tradition of patent policy that has been framed by an enormous report. India’s approaches to different patents vary from industrial countries and see patents as a tool of public policy. India’s strategy questions the demand to amend the IPR laws in order to comply with the TRIPs. India regarded patents as a tool for economic growth and limited the reach and length of patents. India’s sentiment on the issue of patents, especially on v right equal to the right to physical property, whereas developing nations regard it as “fundamentally a matter of economic policy.” From the point of view of developed countries, intellectual property is a matter of principle. India has always believed in the Dharma Principle and wanted this Principle to be enshrined in the laws that it enacts.

PATENT LAW AFTER TRIPS AGREEMENT

In 1994 India signed the TRIPs Agreement and as a result, the Indian Patent Laws were further revised in compliance with the TRIPs Agreement. Previous patents were issued only for the system or process in India, which was modified in accordance with the TRIPs Agreement in 2005. After that, patents are issued not only for system or operation but also for products. The benefit of this amendment is taken by different businesses and individuals. Following this amendment, the number of Indian patent applications has risen. Recently, numerous national and multinational companies have begun their research and development process and are investing in India as the implementation of IP laws in India is better than the previous patent system in India, and various provisions relating to infringements of patent law are laid down in the Patent Act of 1970.

IMPACT OF PATENT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH OF INDIA

Intellectual property is a ‘power weapon’ for economic growth and wealth creation that has not yet been used to make optimal use of it in all countries, especially in the developing world. Under each regime, the construction of IPR defense systems by legislation is mainly based on two factors. One is to facilitate investment in knowledge creation and creativity by creating exclusive rights for the use and selling of newly invented technology, products and services; for knowledge is a kind of non-rival merchandise that is easily available to the public. Without immunity from the law, imitators can easily replicate advanced technology without paying any costs for their research work. Imitators can easily deliver a more attractive price and make more profit than innovators, at a lower cost. As a result, they will be less likely to participate in the research and innovation process under defense. Protection of intellectual property rights plays a dual role in economic growth.

While it encourages creativity by providing legal protection for inventions, it can slow down catch-up and learning by restricting the diffusion of innovations. The patent system in India has an indirect effect on India’s economic development. Now that India has in place sound laws for the security of intellectual property and their implementation is good enough to place trust in India, a number of multinational corporations have begun their research and development phase in India, which has indirectly boosted the country’s economic growth by growing taxes and providing jobs to the citizens of India. Ranbaxy, a multinational corporation founded in 1961 and headquartered in India, is an integrated, research-based, international pharmaceutical company, providing a wide range of reliable, affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients around the world. It is ranked among the top ten generic companies in the world.

It is ranked among the top ten generic companies in the world. There were 1,700 workers in the company in 2005 and the number of employees rose to 10,983 in 2012. The high rise in the number of workers has been observed to indirectly increase the economic growth of India. Dr. Reddy’s is India’s third-largest international corporation offering a wide variety of generic and branded medications and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Much of Dr. Reddy’s sales of generic drugs are reversed copies of drugs patented in the West. The company was founded in 1984 and 7,525 employees were working in 2006 and the number of employees grew to 23,524 in 2018, as it can be clearly seen that more than 200 percent of the rise in the number of employees in the company was made possible in 12 years, resulting in an increase in the country’s economic growth. The total revenue earned by the Indian Intellectual Property Offices amounted to Rs. 608.31 crore in 2016-17, while the total expenditure was only Rs. 129.8 crore. The overall revenue earned by the patent office was Rs. 410.03 crore and the remainder was generated by other intellectual property such as Trademark, Geographical Indication, Design and Copyright.

In 2002, more than 20,000 licensed drug manufacturers sold $9 billion worth of formulations and bulk drugs in India. Eighty-five percent of these formulations were sold in India, while more than 60 percent of the bulk drugs were exported, mainly to the United States and Russia. The majority of the players on the market were small to medium-sized enterprises; 250 of the largest companies control 70% of the Indian market. Owing to the Patent Act of 1970, multinationals account for just 35 percent of the market, down from 70 percent 30 years earlier. In terms of the global market, India currently holds a small 1-2 percent share but is rising at about 10 percent per year. India has become a global player with its innovatively engineered generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and is now aiming to become a major player in outsourced clinical research as well as contract manufacturing and research. It’s 74 U.S. FDA-approved manufacturing facilities in India, more than any other country outside the U.S. Pharmaceutical companies in India, are the third-largest in the world due to the very low-cost production of generic drugs and the export of these drugs to many countries such as Africa, Latin America, and other Asian countries since the cost of production in India is very low compared to the USA and Europe. According to the report of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), the pharmaceutical patent application is India’s second-largest subject-matter and this was lifted after 2005 when India adopted the law enabling product patents. India’s pharmaceutical industry has grown from USD 6 billion in 2005 to USD 30 billion in 2015 and is projected to increase to USD 55 billion by 2020.

CONCLUSION

Indian patent law was amended in compliance with the TRIPs Agreement after India became a signatory to the TRIPs Agreement. TRIPS can prove to be the most relevant provision affecting economic growth arising from international economic law. As a result, many multinationals have started to invest in India. MNCs have also launched their research and development processes in India, indirectly increasing India’s economic growth and creating employment for the Indian population. India must now invite more multinational companies to invest and start its R&D process in India.

India’s economy will grow in this way. India’s expertise in law and judicial practice is worthy of serious attention and uses the TRIPs versatility to promote the growth of the pharmaceutical industry within the country, to introduce compulsory licensing to create greater opportunities for voluntary licensing negotiations, and to update the Guidelines for the review of pharmaceutical applications in order to avoid an ever-increasing rise in gross licensing. In the last 10 years, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has increased from USD 6 billion to USD 30 billion, as many global pharmaceutical companies have invested and started their research and development process in India after 2005.

Spread the love