India Pharma Outlook Team | Saturday, 26 July 2025
Patent specialists are sounding the alarm about the intellectual property terms in the recently finalized India-UK Trade Pact, which they claim will restrict India's ability to ensure affordable access to essential medicines.
The agreement was finalized on July 24 and is now being assessed by patent experts based in India, who also have serious concerns about the deal based on input from pharmaceutical's industry public health safeguards and the protection of long established IP flexibilities necessary for generic drug supply.
Central to their analysis is Article 13.6, which focuses on voluntary licensing as opposed to compulsory licensing. Experts fear that this alters the normative and legal context on which India has based its right to compulsory licensing in emergencies to access affordable essential drugs. They express concern that such a move to refer to voluntary licenses could potentially change treatment availability, especially in the context of low-income markets, if the patent holder can ensure license holders' willingness to provide affordable access.
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Another major flashpoint is Article 13.16. It aims to initiate patent examination collaboration between Indian and UK patent offices. This is considered by industry cliques as a measure moving India further along the road to TRIPS-Plus and constraining India's policy space in public health protection. The provision allows for exchange of data via the WIPO CASE system, which may manipulate patent norms in a manner that favours large corporations.
Adding to industry frustration is the reduced transparency in future free trade negotiations and the dilution of rules around patent working disclosures. New amendments allow companies to submit data on patent use every three years and keep it confidential, further weakening the grounds for issuing compulsory licenses.
As trade ambitions grow, the India-UK trade pact faces growing scrutiny over its implications for IP rights and medicine access.
