What pharmaceutical inventions must be patentable under the TRIPS Agreement?
The main rule relating to patentability is that patents shall be available for any invention, whether a product or process, in all fields of technology without discrimination, where those inventions meet the standard substantive criteria for patentability – namely, novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. In addition, Members are required to make grant of a patent dependent on adequate disclosure of the invention and may require information on the best mode for carrying it out. Disclosure is a key part of the social contract that the grant of a patent constitutes since it makes publicly available important technical information which may be of use to others in advancing technology in the area, even during the patent term, and ensures that, after the expiry of the patent term, the invention truly falls into the public domain because others have the necessary information to carry it out. Three types of exception to the above rule on patentable subject-matter are allowed. The
