TRIPS Agreement: India Stuck in a Transition Mode?
By Meenakshy Menon, (Image source: The Hindu) The post TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Indian economy was thought to have lesser investments and an “anti-competitive effect in the market”. However, an increased amount of investments in Research and Development sector and the entry of a number of pharmaceutical companies into the market in the recent years have proven these predictions wrong. The TRIPS agreement consists of the trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and aims to protect and enforce the IPRs. It also aims to ensure that it does not become a barrier in international trade. The agreement came into existence via the Punta Del Este Declaration during the 8th round of multilateral trade agreements in Uruguay in 1995. When the topic of India and TRIPS agreement comes together, the discussion mostly takes a unilateral turn focusing on one sector specifically; the patents for the drugs in the pharmaceutical industr...