Doha Declaration on Public Health: the right prescription? A Historical Perspective on the Debate regarding Medicine Patent Protection

On May 14, 2005, the amendments to the Canada Patent Act took effect. The purpose of the amendments is to make it possible for developing countries to have access to generic medicines at a lower cost. This reform implements the Doha Declaration and the August 30, 2003 decision of the General Council of the World Trade Organization. This paper analyzes the relevance of these modifications by situating them in their historic context. As such, the authors return to the historic origins of the patent by emphasizing developments in the pharmaceutical field. They then illustrate the manner in which the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) constitutes an intensification of the international system for protecting industrial ownership, then they finally dwell upon righteousness of the solution adopted at Doha, then by Canada.