David's interesting post below on the latest development in the Afro-Indian counterfeit debate (which is brimming over to South America) prompted a request for comment from the excellent Spicy IP blog.
We were pleased to find that Spicy-IP's Swaraj Paul Barooah has provided a well researched piece on the developments that can be located here. Contrary to some reports the concern is not about anti-counterfeit legislation per se but the fact that it "recognises intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical products registered in any part of the world and not just in the country of export or import. This means that the intellectual property rights of a pharmaceutical product which is patented in any other country can be enforced in a sale of the generic version of that drug by India to Kenya. Currently this legislation has been enacted by Kenya, however Indian officials fear that this will also influence other African countries of export such as Uganda, Peru and Ghana."
The Afro-Indian counterfeit debate is fast becoming one of the most significant IP developments reported on by this blog. It's not about small change either. According to reports Africa accounts for 14% of India's $8 billion dollar generics industry. Kenya deserves congratulations for having enacted counterfeit legislation in the first place but this blog would welcome more African commentary on the reason for this apparently far reaching provision.
The Afro-Indian counterfeit debate is fast becoming one of the most significant IP developments reported on by this blog. It's not about small change either. According to reports Africa accounts for 14% of India's $8 billion dollar generics industry. Kenya deserves congratulations for having enacted counterfeit legislation in the first place but this blog would welcome more African commentary on the reason for this apparently far reaching provision.
