Does the TRIPS Agreement strengthen the monopoly patenting of processes?
The TRIPS Agreement protects not only the process through which the product is produced but also the product itself. Therefore it is not possible to manufacture and sell a patented drug made through a new process. Some countries (India, China, Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico, Argentina, Egypt and Canada), prior to the TRIPS Agreement, had either excluded pharmaceuticals from their patent system or provided only process patent. In the absence of product patents, the local companies could develop the drugs through different processes than those patented and could make locally developed cheaper versions of the product.
