A Comparative Study of Pharmaceutical Incentives to Patents in India, USA and Europe

Background: Protection of Intellectual Property Rights is a clear incentive to innovations; yet, several countries have provided further incentives to patents in pharmaceuticals because the full patent term of 20 years is largely exhausted, before marketing authorization. Objective: The purpose of this article is to describe the various incentives to patents in the form of financial support, data exclusivity and most importantly, extended market exclusivities and comparison of various incentives to patents in the United States of America, European Union and India. Methods: The detail of incentives is collected from various articles, latest topics, books, and newspapers. Results: These incentives create a positive environment to encourage the drug development process, strengthen economic growth and improve a balance between new pharmaceuticals in the market and access of that medicine to the general public at a reasonable price. Conclusion: European Union and the United States of America are leading in the field of incentives to patenting in pharmaceuticals as compared to India. Indian Patent Act, 1970, needs to be relooked in terms of data exclusivity and patent term extensions.