EVOLUTION OF PATENTS AND COMPULSORY LICENSE IN INDIA

This chapter explores how patents and compulsory licensing have evolved in India, looking at both local and global changes. It starts by explaining patents as legal documents protecting people's ideas, covering four types: computer, method, manufacture, and material composition. Patents give exclusive rights for 20 years, rewarding inventors for sharing their ideas. Two main theories justifying patents are discussed: Natural Rights Theory, which focuses on individual entitlement, and Utilitarian Theory, which emphasizes economic incentives for innovation. The chapter then discusses the history of India's patent laws, beginning in 1856 and leading to the 1970 Patents Act. Key moments include the Tek Chand Committee Report and the Aiyengar Committee's reforms after independence. The laws were later amended to align with international agreements like TRIPS. Internationally, the chapter looks at events from the 1873 Congress of Vienna to the 1883 Paris Convention and the establishment of WIPO in 1967. The World Trade Organization's TRIPS Agreement 1995 became crucial in international patent regulation, setting minimum standards for member countries to protect innovations. TRIPS includes flexibilities like compulsory licensing to support public policies in developing nations. It ends by discussing the controversial issue of international exhaustion in patent rights, highlighting India's unique perspective.