Access to Medicine in the Global Economy: International Agreements on Patents and Related Rights

Abstract

This is the introduction to a book that explains and interprets important international agreements, beginning with the landmark Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), but also including more recent free trade agreements and the pending Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The book addresses controversial topics, such as when a nation can provide a compulsory license, as well as whether a nation may suspend in-transit generic goods. The book also discusses how patent-like rights (such as "data exclusivity") prevent lower-cost generic medicines from entering into the marketplace and provides strategies for minimizing the harm of such rights. The book aims to provide an important first step toward eventual workable solutions by promoting a better understanding of existing and future laws that impact access to medicine.

Keywords: Patent, TRIPS, ACTA, Drug, Medicine, Compulsory License, Data Exclusivity, Patent Linkage

JEL Classification: K19, K20, K29, K33, L52, O31, O34, O38, O33