This study analyzes the impact of the revision of the Indian Patent Act (2005) on the Indian
pharmaceutical industry which has been achieving healthy growth over the past 30 to 40 years
or more. As of 2005 the Indian pharmaceutical industry was ranked as No. 4 in the world in
terms of volume and 15th in terms of value. WTO TRIPS required India to revise its patent law
however and to introduce product patents in the pharmaceutical field. Many not only in India
but also in the world had argued that the local pharmaceutical industry could deteriorate once
a strong patent law (such as a product patent) was introduced. However the Indian
pharmaceutical industry has continued to develop rapidly even after the revision of the patent
law in 2005. This present study started with efforts to work out the reason the Indian
pharmaceutical industry successfully expanded even after the introduction of product patents.
The study found that a unique article (the so-called '3-d') inserted in the Patent Act 2005
might have played a role in diminishing or preventing a negative impact from the introduction
of a strong patent system such as a product patents. The study also considers that a change of
the business model adopted by the Indian pharmaceutical industry might have contributed to
diminishing the effect of the negative impact from the introduction of a strong patent law.
This study also covers recent developments in India regarding intellectual property rights and
the pharmaceutical industry. One is India's very first compulsory license granted to an Indian
pharmaceutical company Natco against the large German pharmaceutical firm Bayer and the
second is the Supreme Court decision on Novartis' Gleevec. The study analyzes the fundamental
problems that caused these two events: access to medicine and gaps in the concept of
intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry. As possible solutions to these
fundamental issues this book explores the ideas of voluntary licensing and tiered pricing.
