CIH215 | Intellectual Property and Public Health

This course is an elective course. It is a standalone course, however prior understanding of Trade Law and Intellectual Property Law would benefit the students.

The course begins with a discussion on patents, patentability criteria, patents, public health and access to medicines. We will then discuss the WTO framework, in particular the TRIPS agreement. TRIPS provisions pertaining to public health shall also be discussed, and the impact of the Doha Declaration on Public Health shall be studied in detail. The course shall also help in understanding TRIPS flexibilities and the TRIPS-Plus provisions found in free trade agreements, and their implications on medicine pricing and availability. The TRIPS provisions will be contrasted and compared with IP provisions found in some of the Free Trade Agreements. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic would be used as a case study to examine issues around vaccines. intellectual property, technology transfer, and the TRIPS waiver debates.

The primary pedagogical methods employed are lectures, along with socratic discussions, encouraging students to actively engage with the subject matter. Students will be asked to lead the class discussions as and when assigned. All students are expected to complete all assigned readings prior to each class session and actively participate in the class discussions. Students will also be asked to write a response paper which will be followed by a group discussion exercise.