Title: Perception of the Indian pharmaceutical firms towards stronger product patent regime: a case study of North West region

Authors: Sunita Mishra; Ravi Kiran

Addresses: Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, M.M. Engineering College, M.M. University, Mullana-133207 (Ambala) Haryana, India. ' School of Management and Social Sciences, Thapar University, Patiala-147004, Punjab, India

Abstract: India, being a signatory member of WTO, adopted product patents laws in 1995. Prior to that Indian pharmaceutical industry was being governed by the Indian Patent Act of 1970, which allowed only process patent laws. What are the effects of stronger patent laws on the Indian pharmaceutical firms? What is the perception of the Indian pharmaceutical firms towards stronger product patent regime? Whether they treat it as an opportunity or they perceive it as a threat. These are some of the issues the present paper tries to answer. With a sample of 100 firms, the study tries to cover the major areas in Northern India which has a combination of excise free zone and non-excise free zone. The overall reliability of the questionnaire has been .798. Statistical tools like chi-square tests and ANOVA are used to test the hypothesis. The results of the study highlight an improvement in the perception of Indian firms. They are ready for the challenges offered by the post-TRIPS era and are accepting the new opportunities offered by it.

Keywords: World Trade Organization; WTO; international agreements; trade related aspects; intellectual property rights; Schedule M; Drugs and Cosmetics Act; North West India; legislative acts; statutes; legislation; DPCO; Drug Price Control Order; legal rules; regulations; R&D; research and development; pre-TRIPS periods; post-TRIPS periods; pharmaceutical firms; patent regimes; product patents; Badi; Kala Amb; Himachal Pradesh; Mohali; Dehra Bassi; Lalru; Punjab; Ambala; Haryana; regions; patent laws; pharmaceutical industry; Indian Patent Act; process patents; opportunities; threats; Northern India; excise free zones; non-excise free zones; chi-square tests; ANOVA; analysis of variance; firm perceptions; challenges; intellectual property management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIPM.2012.049898

International Journal of Intellectual Property Management, 2012 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.266 - 282

Received: 29 Jul 2011
Accepted: 11 Jul 2012
Published online: 31 Jul 2014 *

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