The role of the international patent system in the transfer of technology to developing countries with particular reference to pharmaceutical patents and compulsory licences.

This thesis deals with the role of patents in the transfer of technology and industrialization of developing countries, with a special focus on the role of pharmaceutical patents and the development of the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, this thesis examines the working of patents and the compulsory licensing system in the case of non-working as well as the compulsory licensing system for pharmaceuticals from the perspective of the Paris Convention and the national patent laws. The following problems are addressed: (1) Whether and under what conditions patents facilitate or hinder access to technology and how they can be made to facilitate access of technology to developing countries in particular in the pharmaceutical sector. (2) Whether the obligation to work the patent and the sanctions that are provided when the patent is not being worked, i.e., compulsory licence and revocation, are adequate and effective in promoting the interests of developing countries for industrialization and (3) Whether compulsory licences can be applied in the interest of public health under different circumstances and if they would help the development of the pharmaceutical industry and the transfer of pharmaceutical technology. These problems will be viewed from the perspective of the international system of patent protection as it is embodied in Article 5A of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and as it interacts with the various national patent laws of member countries