Expressing concern over the recent order by Indian Supreme Court on the patent of a cancer drug, the US has said the access to medicine and innovation are not mutually exclusive.
"On the Indian Supreme Court decision regarding pharmaceutical patents, I think it's fair to say that the governments of India and the US share the goal of providing safe, affordable medicines. The US believes that access and innovation are not mutually exclusive," a senior official from the US Trade Representative (USTR) said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the USTR official was briefing reporters after the release of a Congressional-mandated report on violations of intellectual property rights by countries across the globe.
"We can increase access to medicines and at the same time support innovation through development of new and improved drugs. We're very interested in working within it to achieve right policy mix to maximise both innovation and access. And supporting innovation is, in our view, an important part of that policy mix," the official said.
Putting India along with China and Russia and seven other countries in its "Priority Watch List" on the issue of violation of the intellectual priority watch, the USTR report urged India to reconsider how it can meet legitimate domestic policy objectives by fostering, rather than undermining that innovation climate.
The USTR, in its report, designated Ukraine a priority foreign country (PFC) under the 'Special 301' statute due to severe deterioration of enforcement in the areas of government, use of pirated software and piracy over Internet, as well as denial of fair and equitable market access through authorisation and operation of copyright collecting societies.
USTR, in its report expressed, concerns about misappropriation of trade secrets in China, and incremental progress on a few of China's many other significant IPR and market access challenges.
It also added Barbados, Bulgaria, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago to the 'Watch List' due to specific problems identified in the report.
