Abstract:
India is perhaps the only country in the world which has a law on working of granted patents. In fact in 2012, the Indian Patent Office invoked this unique provision to grant a compulsory licence for an anti-cancer drug and this policy was much hailed. However, a recent Public Interest Litigation before the Delhi High Court, the issue of largescale non-working of patents was brought to the public.
In the context, the paper undertakes a survey of the unique dimensions of India’s patent regime, works out the working rate of patents that are in force over the pre and post TRIPS compliant regime and analyses the responses received from all stakeholders regarding policy of annual reporting on the working of patents. The paper thus serves the purpose of initiating an informed conversation on this
important policy.
