ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the main provisions of the agreement relating to the legal protection of pharmaceutical inventions. It provides some analytical assessment as to whether or not the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement actually hinders access to medicines. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement set minimum standards of intellectual property protection, which all members of the WTO have to implement. The chapter argues that the TRIPS-plus provisions in the TPP will have a significant impact upon access to essential medicines by limiting countries’ substantive ability to deal with public health problems and by restricting the measures the countries can take to pursue affordable drugs. The TPP confirms the exclusion of patentability of medical practices, such as diagnosis, therapy, and surgery on the human or animal body. The issue of access to medicines is a major problem in many developing countries – particularly Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
