The term intellectual property rights (IPRs) refers to those legal rules, norms and regulations that prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual products^[1]. IPRs essentially consist of two domains: one deal with industrial products, which includes patents, The TRIPS Agreement which came into effect on 1 January 1995, is to date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property. The areas of intellectual property that it covers are: copyright and related rights (i.e. the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations); trademarks; geographical indications; industrial designs; patents, including the protection of new varieties of plants; and undisclosed information including trade secrets. The modern pharmaceutical industry is of recent origin. With the introduction of sulpha drugs in the mid-1930s and penicillin in the early 1940s, the international pharmaceutical industry went through what is usually referred to as a therapeutic revolution. Before the 1930s, few drugs were capable of curing diseases^[2]. While there are a large number of pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world, only a small number of MNCs dominate the industry. There is a clear distinction^[3] between (i) a small number of big MNCs which do R & D for new drugs and get these patented and (ii) a large number of smaller companies that produce products for which parents have expired. The latter are known as generic companies. TRIPS agreement is regarded by developing countries as having been forced upon them by the United States. This is not entirely a fair claim in the case of India, where the government and some of the successful generic drug companies recognized in the early 1990s that an eventual transition to a regime allowing pharmaceutical patents might be in the nation’s long-term interest.^[4] The TRIPS agreement, informed by both the classical arguments for patent and the developing country – argument, made a distinction among three classes of the nation. Developed countries were required to bring patent regimes into immediate compliance with the agreement.^[5] Developing countries, India and Brazil among them were given ten years, and the least developed countries, mostly those in Africa and the Middle East, were given more time. This differentiated timetable makes sense for both developing and the least developed countries, and, specifically, for India. Three factors may be suggested (1) India’s growing size concerning markets (2) its increased capacity to innovate, and (3) the flexibility inherent in the TRIPS agreement that will allow India to avoid most of the adverse consequences envisioned by the opponents of reform.

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Keywords: Intellectual Property Rights, TRIP, Patent, Copyright, Pharmaceutical Industry, Drug.