U.K.-India FTA patent clauses raise concerns for generic medicine access
Experts warn that the U.K.-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) contains intellectual property (IP) and regulatory clauses that could favor patent owners, potentially hindering the production and affordability of life-saving generic medicines. This could negatively impact patients in India and the Global South. Concerns include the preference for voluntary licenses, which often have restrictive conditions and fail to significantly reduce prices. The agreement also changes the submission of patent working details from annual to triennial and restricts public access to confidential information, making it harder to prove unmet demands for compulsory licenses.
Key Points
- The U.K.-India FTA's IP and regulatory clauses are feared to favor patent owners, potentially limiting access to generic medicines.
- Provisions like the preference for voluntary licenses over compulsory ones raise concerns about drug affordability.
- Changes to patent working data submission (triennial instead of annual) and confidentiality will hinder proving unmet demands.
- These clauses could weaken safeguards against patent evergreening, impacting public health.
Exam Facts
- Agreement: U.K.-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
- Indian Patents Act, Section 3(d) (mentioned for evergreening).
- Patent working details submission changed from annual to once every three years.
- India's exports to the U.K. increased by 12.6% last year.
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