Intellectual Property Law and Access to Medicines: TRIPS Agreement, Health, and Pharmaceuticals

The history of patent harmonization is a story of dynamic actors, whose interactions with established structures shaped the patent regime. From the inception of the trade regime to include intellectual property rights to the present, this book documents the role of different sets of actors - such as states, transnational business corporations or civil society groups - and their influence on the structures - such as national and international agreements, organizations and private entities - that have caused changes to healthcare and access to medication. Presenting the debates over patents, trade and TRIPS, as it galvanized non-state and non-business actors, the book highlights how an alternative framing and understanding of pharmaceutical patent rights emerged: as a public issue, instead of a trade or IP issue. The book thus offers an important analysis of the legal and political dynamics through which the contest for access to life-saving medication has been, and will continue to be, fought.

In addition to academics working in the areas of international law, development, and public health, this book will also be of interest to policy makers, state actors and others with relevant concerns working in non-governmental and international organizations.