Impact of Patents on Indian Pharma Industry's Growth and Competency: A Viewpoint of Pharmaceutical Companies in India

Instruments of intellectual property rights (IPR) are considered to achieve economic, social and technological advancement for a country in all aspects. Of all the instruments of IPR, patent is the most contentious issue which is deliberated in several international fora. Patents are mostly debated for their role in pharmaceutical field. India signed General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994 agreeing to implement the IPR in all fields of technology, including product patent, with effect from 1 January 1995. Taking into account India’s status as a developing country, India was granted a transition period of ten years from 1995 to 2005 to switch over from process patent to product patent. With this shift, it was imperative for Indian pharmaceutical companies to embrace product patents. This study was undertaken with the objective of identifying the situation in India after product patent regime was implemented. The role of Indian pharmaceutical companies in the era of product patent is crucial. The authors attempted to identify how Indian pharmaceutical companies view product patent regime, hindering the growth of industry or providing impetus to R&D, in this study. The measures taken by these companies to survive and grow in product patent regime have also been analysed.