Chapter : Health and Intellectual Property

This chapter addresses the interface between health and intellectual property (IP). The chapter provides an introduction to the forms of IP principally as they relate to health products, and describes the international legal framework in which IP is situated. It addresses the ways in which IP affects research and development (R&D), production, distribution and marketing of health products, mainly focusing on the pharmaceutical sector. It discusses various public policy issues associated with the relationship between health and IP, including tensions among demands for innovation, the grant of exclusive marketing rights and access to products that may be necessary to sustain life and health