Introduction
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are essential in today’s world. Intellectual property is a tool that people and companies use to protect their new ideas. To support this, many governments have announced plans to increase national intellectual property lists. IPRs are often seen as restrictive because they prohibit the use of other’s creative work.
Human rights, on the other hand, are essential to all living beings and cannot be violated. Governments worldwide are trying to strike a careful balance between the moral values of human rights and the economic benefits of intellectual property rights. Many experts point out that ignoring the possibility of coexistence often leads to conflict. The regulations governing these areas will be subject to rigorous scrutiny and will require a thorough examination of the underlying processes in addition to the solutions. The focus is on the theory and consequences of interaction.
Finally, it is designed to provide information on the rights of producers and consumers, which is essential for understanding the ethics and knowledge of business, society, and customs. Creating a legal system flexible enough to adapt to current and future political and social conditions requires eliminating all hierarchy. The long-term and far-reaching impact of these intersections must be considered because they often go beyond the immediate problem.
Intellectual Property Rights: A Primer
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are legal systems put in place to ensure that creators, innovators, and companies have exclusive rights to the use of their inventions. These include patents, copyrights, trademarks and geographical indications. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are defined as; “the legal rights which result from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields.
Laws governing IPRs in India are the Indian Patents Act, 1970; the Copyright Act, 1957; the Trademarks Act,1999; and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. These laws are consistent with international agreements such as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Human Rights: A Fundamental Framework
Human Rights represent global standards designed to uphold the intrinsic dignity and equality of every individual. These rights are codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948. They are further detailed in various international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
India’s dedication to Human Rights is evident in its Constitution. Fundamental Rights, including the right to equality, freedom of expression, and the right to life and personal liberty, closely correspond with international Human Rights standards.
The Interplay between IPR and Human Rights
Access to Essential Medicines
There is significant tension in India between human rights and the rights granted to developers of new pharmaceuticals, particularly in ensuring that essential medications become accessible. Oftentimes, the price of their patents is too high because of those very same patents, thus leaving many people without access to a prescription they need. The human right to health is guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in Article 12 and reaffirmed by the Indian Constitution in Article 21. This contradiction came to the foreground during the Novartis AG v. Union of India[1] case when the Supreme Court opted to base the claim on the corporation’s profit against public health by turning down the patent of a cancer drug. There is an urgent need for balance between respecting the efforts of innovators and ensuring that essential healthcare is accessible to everyone. India’s resort to compulsory licensing of pharmaceuticals as permitted by the TRIPS Agreements to ensure that a delicate balance is maintained is reflective of such balancing gestures. In 2014, India issued its first-ever compulsory license for Bayer’s patented cancer treatment drug Nexavar, dramatically bringing down the price of the medicine. Which reasserted the positioning of public health over commercial interests in the Human Right to Health principle. [2]
Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Rights
India’s rich tapestry of conventional knowledge, which includes Ayurveda and yoga, discloses another level of connection. The reliance and commercialization of traditional knowledge by overseas firms, better known as “biopiracy,” pose a menace to the cultural rights of the indigenous and local people. India came up with the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) to check this issue and inappropriate patent applications. Such an effort is precisely what is provided for in Article 15 of the ICESCR on every individual’s behalf to be guaranteed the right to share in cultural life and profit from the changes created in science.
Copyright and Freedom of Expression
Certainly, the restriction of copyright sometimes steps onto the field of freedom of expression by the former’s attempt to protect the creator’s rights. Strict barriers enforced on copyrighted works, for instance, could deprive students of the necessary tools and breach the right to education as a wave of Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. The Indian Copyright Act, which was introduced by its Act of 1957, includes provisions on the grounds of ‘fair use’ that specify the acceptable application of copyrighted works in the educational process for schools. The law, besides providing a way for accessing knowledge, thus enables marginalized communities to overcome the imbalance of rights between the creator and user.
Geographical Indications and Community Rights
Geographical Indications (GIs) are legal designations that prevent products from being counterfeited or imitated because they have specific characteristics that are associated with their origin. In India, GIs like Darjeeling tea, Basmati rice, and Kanjeevaram silk not only preserve cultural traditions but also improve the living standard of local communities in the economic sense. However, arguments over GIs that break community rights out of institutional instruments could still occur. An instance of this is the long-running legal battle regarding the GI status of Basmati rice, which India and Pakistan have been having, indicating the difficulties of balancing copyright with ethical advantages for all concerned matters.
Challenges in Balancing IPRs and Human Rights
Economic Inequality
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is often one of the main concerns of large corporations and thus can worsen economic inequalities. In a developing country like India, it is a continuous challenge to ensure that these rights also benefit the marginalized people who are continuously left behind by the economic upswing that IPRs can bring. The shortage of resources and access frequently makes it very hard for small companies and individuals to make use of intellectual property even as quickly as their large counterparts.
Globalization and TRIPS Compliance
India’s obligations to international treaties such as Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) can, at times, contradict its efforts towards human rights. To illustrate, the rigid rules for patenting laid down by TRIPS could be the opposite of the country’s goals to better public health. This contradiction comes from the fact that by protecting the rights of inventors, we can bring down the general cost of medicines, but this might make some of the drugs not affordable to the people who need them most.
Lack of Awareness and Enforcement
There is a lack of information among a vast majority of Indian people as to their rights under the system of intellectual property, as a result of which they are not able to protect their creations and make a living out of them. Moreover, the absence of efficient enforcement mechanisms acts as a further factor that does not solidify the protection of the traditional and cultural knowledge of a community. Thus, this marginalization endangers the community as; for misappropriate cases, they become less protected; they do not acknowledge acknowledgement and the economic aspects that come along with their cultural contributions to society.
Policy Recommendations
Strengthening Compulsory Licensing
India still needs to implement the exceptions put in place in the TRIPS Agreement (flexibilities) for the purpose of maintaining access to medicines for people in the affordable cost range and ensuring that the hospitals/drugstores have stocks of the necessary medication to last for some days. This initiative is one of the most indispensable steps against the hardships of compressing policy in many developed countries, as they often stand for the most draconian patent rules that may stop such access.
Enhancing Traditional Knowledge Protection
Fostering the growth of projects such as the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) and the active participation of local communities in decision-making is the most critical factor in preserving traditional knowledge and cultural heritage as the best alternative method. In this way, the continuity of the traditional knowledge in all the generations that follow is ensured, while no other resource is lost.
Promoting Fair Use in Copyright Laws
By further developing the fair use doctrine, India can provide greater access to education and culture. The move would be in favour of all the stakeholders since it will preserve the rights underlining copyright and facilitate essential education activities that are the key to the whole growth and development of society.
Empowering Local Communities
The policies have to be made so that the economic gains from Geographical Indications (GIs) and other Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are distributed justly to local communities. Fair sharing will create a sustainable nature of living for them, and as a result, they will gain economic autonomy.
Awareness and Capacity Building
Arranging the launch of educational programs and providing proper legal aid are the main things that help the community gain an understanding of IPRs and move in the complex world of benefits and rights.
Conclusion
The debate that continues about conflict and coexistence brings up a highly complex issue that needs a lot of time to work out where the different sides stand. This is what must happen if we want to acknowledge the significant impact of such legal forms on the historical events that led to the situation we are talking about and then not just dismiss them and say that it is over. The idea of rights that are being specified by the intellectual property sector within the general framework of the human rights agenda can only survive if they are carefully entwined and not allowed to interfere with the core norms of relevant legal tools like the ICESCR and TRIPS. For all conflicts everywhere between whatever persons or groups are fighting under whatever nations, regions, or statures, the solution should be one, and it has to work.
Revisiting the differences in challenges, worldviews, and localities experienced by rich and poor nations is currently a priority. In the case of human rights defenders, the understanding of intellectual property rights should be raised if not at a level equal to human rights. Actually, global IP law, in addition to the TRIPS Agreement, bears no flexibility in giving a place to the array of prescriptions that are required for reaching most of the human rights goals and starting the ideal equilibrium between international IP law and human rights. The pursuit of the right balance between them is likely to be challenging due to the fact that violation of human rights also comes with regional, economic, social, and cultural dimensions, which makes it impossible to choose one over the others.
