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India's $4.5bn (£2.4bn) pharmaceutical industry is at a crossroad following the introduction of a new patent regime on 1 January this year.
BBC UK Gov Article, Jan 27, 2005
pharmaceutical industry is at a crossroad following the introduction of a new patent
Critics say medicines will be more expensive in the future
The new law was introduced as part of the government's efforts to honour its commitment to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
In the past, India would not grant patents on final products, but rather on the process used to manufacture them.
But when it signed the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in 1994, it was given ten years to change its decades-old patent law of the 1970s and make it compliant with WTO laws.
With the new law, the government will now grant patents for all new products developed after 1995.
As yet it is not clear whether the law will benefit or harm a sector seen by many as India's next big success story after information technology (IT).