In discussions at the June 2015 WTO TRIPS Council on the role of intellectual property in financing innovation, India underscored its commitment to the principle of de-linkage by stating,
Innovation should not be viewed within the narrow prism of intellectual property monopolies but framed within a holistic, knowledge ecosystem that includes open innovation, open knowledge approaches and de-linkage of R&D costs from product prices
and repeating its call to the WTO, WHO and WIPO secretariats to organize a technical symposium on “New Business Models for Fostering Innovation and Access: Innovation Inducement Prizes and Open Source Development Models” as part of their “trilateral cooperation on intellectual property and public health.”
Intervention on Agenda Item 10: Intellectual Property and Innovation: The Role of Intellectual Property in Financing InnovationMr.Chairman, my delegation would like to thank the delegations of the United States, Switzerland, the European Union and Singapore for tabling an agenda item on “Intellectual Property and Innovation: The Role of Intellectual Property in Financing Innovation”.
Mr.Chairman, let me just recall our intervention when the agenda item on Intellectual Property and Innovation was first introduced in the TRIPS Council. Our statement is still relevant when we are discussing ‘the Role of Intellectual Property in Financing Innovation’ under the broad theme of Intellectual Property and Innovation. In that meeting India pointed out that the word “innovation” appeared just once in the TRIPS Agreement, in Article 7, which states that Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) “should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology,” and not for the sake of innovation itself, but “to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.” Thus the TRIPS Agreement makes it very clear that the purpose of the Intellectual Property system is not solely to protect the commercial interests of the Intellectual Property holder but it is one of the many tools available to the society to achieve technological development, its social and economic welfare and innovation.
Mr.Chairman, according to Petra Moser, faculty at Stanford University, U.S.A., “ Patents and Innovation: Evidence from Economic History, Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 27, Number 1—Winter 2013—Pages 23–44”.
“Overall, the weight of the existing historical evidence suggests that patent policies, which grant strong intellectual property rights to early generations of inventors, may discourage innovation. On the contrary, policies that encourage the diffusion of ideas and modify patent laws to facilitate entry and encourage competition may be an effective mechanism to encourage innovation.
Innovation should not be viewed within the narrow prism of intellectual property monopolies but framed within a holistic, knowledge ecosystem that includes open innovation, open knowledge approaches and de-linkage of R&D costs from product prices.
According to the Trilateral study by WTO, WHO and WIPO on “Promoting Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation: Intersections between public health, intellectual property and trade (2013) ”(Page 126),
Patent law is not a stand-alone innovation system. It is only one element of the innovation process, and one which can be deployed differently in diverse innovation scenarios. Patent law has little bearing on many other factors that lead to the successful development of technologies, e.g. the nature and extent of demand, commercial advantages gained by marketing and ancillary services and support, commercial and technical viability of production processes, and compliance with regulatory requirements, including through effective management of clinical trials data.
Mr.Chairman, the trilateral study also highlights that Innovation in medical technologies for neglected diseases suffers from market failure as conventional IP-based incentives do not correspond with the nature of demand for treatments of these diseases. To overcome the market failure of the IP system for neglected diseases, the trilateral study mentions about open innovation structures such as Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) model of India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), collaborative research such as WIPO Re:Search Sharing Innovation in the Fight Against Neglected Tropical Diseases. The study also talks about the concept of delinking price of the final product from the costs of R&D by ‘push’ mechanisms such as grant funding and tax credits for investment in R&D and by ‘pull’ mechanisms that offer rewards for the final outcome of R&D of certain products like milestone or end prizes. The trilateral study also talks about the emergence of Product Development Parterships (PDPs), which are constituted usually with the involvement of non-profit organizations, foundations and industry, to focus R & D towards diseases that disproportionally affect low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Examples of Product Development Partnerships are Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), the international AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, etc.,
Mr.Chairman, the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the recently concluded 68th World Health Assembly (WHA) has adopted the ‘Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance’. The action plan, inter alia, states that most pharmaceutical companies have stopped research and development of new antibiotics and calls it as a “serious market failure” and a “particular cause of concern”. The action plan also suggests that “the cost of investment in research and development may need to be de-linked from price and the volume of sales to facilitate equitable and affordable access to new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines and other results from research and development in all countries”. The G-7 countries yesterday came out in full support of the WHO Global Action Plan on anti-microbial resistance.
Mr. Chairman, the Report to the President on Combating Antibiotic Resistance in September 2014, which was prepared by the United States President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), while stating that market failure is the reason for the inadequate state of antibiotic development, it also talks about new mechanisms to incentivize the development of antibiotics, like ‘push mechanisms (federal funding, subsidies etc)’ and ‘pull’ mechanisms (user licenses, lump sum prizes, patent buy-outs etc).
Mr.Chairman, India declared the decade of 2011-2020 as the Decade of Innovation. The spirit of innovation has to permeate all sectors of economy from universities, business and government to people at all levels. The future prosperity of India in the new knowledge economy would increasingly depend on its ability to generate new ideas, processes and solutions, and the process of innovation would convert knowledge into social good and economic wealth.
Mr.Chairman, with regard to financing of Innovation in India, there are many ways, but due to paucity of time, I would limit myself to few initiatives of the Government and private sector in India. CSIR-Tech Private Limited works with laboratories across India to commercialize their technologies and intellectual property; Grassroots Technological Innovations Acquisition Fund (GTIAF), which is operated by the National Innovation Foundation of India, is to obtain the rights of technologies from grass root innovators after compensating them for the same with the purpose to disseminate/diffuse them at low cost or no cost for the larger benefit of the society. Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA), promoted jointly by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, inter alia, has a mandate of professional management of Government Fund for the industry through flexible modes of funding support like grant, loan and equity. Some private sector initiatives that invests mainly in technology led innovations, include India Innovation Fund, a venture capital fund promoted by National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and IKP Knowledge park, and Tata Capital Innovation Fund, etc.
Mr.Chairman, I would like to conclude by requesting the WTO to organize a symposium on “New Business Models for Fostering Innovation and Access: Innovation Inducement Prizes and Open Source Development Models.” This could be organized by the WTO along with the WHO and the WIPO as part of their trilateral cooperation on intellectual property and public health.
Thank you.