Breather for India's compulsory licence seekers as WTO group extends moratorium on IP violation

NEW DELHI: In a relief to Indian manufacturers seeking compulsory licences, a committee of the WTO has decided to shield intellectual property from a mechanism through which one WTO member can challenge the other's IP related policies even if there is no rules infringement.

WTO members meeting as the TRIPS (trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) Council agreed on November 23 on a draft ministerial decision on non-violation disputes in the area of intellectual property.

The decision is expected to be adopted at the Nairobi Ministerial Conference in December. The TRIPS Council agreed to extend a moratorium on bringing non-violation complaints to the WTO's dispute settlement system to 2017.

For India, this means no one can challenge Section 3(D) of the Indian Patents Act, which allows the issue of compulsory licences to manufacture generic drugs, till the moratorium is in place.

Compulsory licensing is when a government allows someone else to produce the patented product or process without the consent of the patent owner. It is one of the flexibilities on patent protection included in the WTO’s agreement on intellectual property.

"If the moratorium had ended, then any country could have challenged our compulsory licensing policy. This gives us more assurance that our law will not be challenged," said Abhijit Das, head, Centre for WTO Studies.

Disputes on this provision can affect India's generic drug industry and, thereby, have an impact on all countries, including the developed nations, which import cheap drugs from India.