In January 2005, drug product patent protection was reintroduced in India to comply with the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. How are the multinational pharmaceutical companies responding to the new policy environment? Is India likely to see monopolisation of the industry and high prices, which was the pattern before 1972 when India had product patent protection? Will the positive features of the post-1972 process patent era be diluted or negated?

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical literature that originated predominantly during and after TRIPS, focusing on the influence of changes in patent protection on developing countries. Previous studies identify two channels of gain for developing countries, from strong patent rights. Firstly, the promotion channel whereby, patent rights affect innovativeness of the South and concomitantly its economic growth. Theoretical studies do not give unambiguous hypotheses concerning the influence of patent protection on domestic innovation leaving it for empirical investigation.

The present study tries to explore the factors that influence the growth, performance, and development of IPR attitude of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector of Punjab. The aim of the present research is to examine the technology management strategies of manufacturing SMEs, primarily on the basis of use-based classification.

Actors at the local, national and global level, through their policies, institutional structure and processes, influence livelihood decisions irrespective of geographical setting. The introduction of intellectual property rights (IPR) under the WTO regime demonstrates how decisions taken at an international level affect millions of livelihoods across the globe. This has necessitated national governments to introduce new laws and legislation such as the enactment of Geographical Indications Act of India in 1999.

Over the past decade, India has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the clinical trial industry. The projections forecast a double-digit growth over the next decade propelled by enhanced outsourcing by drug developing companies.

Preparations for the Rio+20 United Nations conference on sustainable development have begun, but the first round of preparatory meetings did not address important issues such as sustainable resource use, production and consumption.

The eighth ministerial of the World Trade Organisation was on the surface an inconsequential meeting of an organisation fighting a descent into irrelevance. But there were attempts by the powerful economies to craft a plurilateral approach that would keep out the majority of WTO member countries.