Browsing by Author "Anjali Brahma"

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    Access to Diagnosis and the Right to Healthcare: A Rights-Based Approach to Understanding Section 3(I) of the Patents Act, 1970
    (NLUJAA, 2026) Anjali Brahma
    Patent law is based on the idea that knowledge can be transformed into property. Patent law seeks to promote innovation and technological advancements by granting exclusive rights over an invention.1 It rests on the idea that granting patent rights will increase private gains to the innovators for their intellectual labour, stimulating innovation.2 It imposes costs on society, as well as benefits.3 This model is effective in industrial contexts, where inventions are often capable of replication and commercial exchange to protect the rights of the interest holder. However, when it is applied in the context of medicine, this framework encounters a fundamental difficulty, as medicine is not merely technical but is closely tied to human dignity, ethical responsibility and public welfare. Medical knowledge goes beyond mere commodification, and involves the discovery of natural relationships, biological processes, and diagnostic correlations.4 As a result, not all forms of medical knowledge can be easily treated as private property.