Intellectual property and health care

Abstract

Abstract provided by author

The observance of contemporary trends in the areas of intellectual property and health care in our globalizing world is gradually and progressively receiving considerable attention all over the continent since theimplementation of TRIPS in 1994. The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of 1994 provides minimum standards for intellectual property law and procedures and remedies that should be available to rights holders to enable them to be able to enforce their rights effectively. The default principle concerning patents in terms of the agreement is that they should be available for any invention, whether product or process, in all fields of technology without discrimination. With respect to pharmaceutical patents, the minimum TRIPS obligations include 20 years of patent protection from the inventor's filing date; patent rights free of discrimination against the origin of invention or production; and exclusive marketing rights for the entire patent duration. Transitional periods are granted before TRIPS requirements for patent protection must be met; the deadline for least-developing country members was ultimately extended to 2016

It is generally observed that modification of patent laws to conform to the standards set in the TRIPS Agreement by member States, in particular in the areas of health care, is an impediment or rather a barrier to adequate health care especially in developing countries. The debate centers, with special focus on medical inventions or innovations, on whether to sacrifice the right to health care which is of public nature at the instance of a patent right which is of private nature or not

This paper will focus its discussion having regard to the TRIPS Agreement on existing and anticipated future barriers, as well as possible solutions, to provide policy-makers with lessons learned from the experiences of other States, for aid in the transformation to conform to the standards required by the TRIPS Agreement.