An Analysis of Interface Between Competition Law and Patens in Pharmaceutical Industries in India

Abstract

The entire world is changing, and the shift is surely spurred by knowledge gained, information owned, its protection, and exploitation in the market sector. As a result, every industry is more or less oriented on knowledge, and the global economy has now totally transformed into an information economy. Intellectual property is the property that arises as a result of intellect/knowledge/information spent, and intellectual property rights are the rights that derive from it. As a result, it requires maximum protection and a fair environment to function. Intellectual property rights are a type of intangible property whose protection has served as the foundation for securing prosperity in most modern political systems for millennia and is at the heart of most thriving enterprises today. Its purpose is to encourage creativity and invention by providing the creator with an exclusive, but temporary, property right. These are negative rights; they only prevent unauthorised usage and do not guarantee revenue. However, the negative nature of these rights results in legal exclusivity, which encourages innovation but does not ensure profitability. The entire concept of intellectual property focuses around achieving a balance between individual and public interests. The exclusionary concepts are at the heart of the much-discussed individual interest. Thus, the 'right of exclusion' is an essential feature of the grant of intellectual property rights, implying that the intellectual property right owner can use his rights to the exclusion of the entire universe. The basis for intellectual property recognition is the specific rights granted by the government, which has always understood that invention in the community benefits the general welfare, and that the innovator is treated as a public benefactor to that amount. IPRs strive to encourage innovation by granting creators and innovators time-limited commercial rights to govern the use of their product1 . In general, intellectual property laws strive to find a reasonable balance between giving enough incentives to the inventor and avoiding the protection of any single breakthrough acting as a deterrent to cumulative 'follow on' innovation. On the other side, in today's globalised society, competition has become a motivating force. Deregulation, liberalisation, and privatisation are necessary, but not sufficient, to ensure the efficient operation of markets. Market distortions rob markets of their potential to generate efficient results, harm growth, and mostly harm the poor through higher prices. As a result, an intense competition legislation is required to defend and nurture the economy's competitive process2.