Patent Law & Economic Development: Empirical Evidence From Pakistan

The protection of intellectual property rights has been considered a vital factor in the business-friendly environment in the modern era.Patent plays an important role in the economic development of different countries.Pakistan has its unique cultural,legal and economic dynamics different from other countries,which makes Pakistan an interesting case for this study.History of patent law in Pakistan dates back to the 19 th century when the first Patents Act was enacted under British rule.After Pakistan's independence,the Patents & Designs Act,1911 was adopted with some modification.After signing of the TRIPS agreement,the act of 1911 was amended in compliance with the TRIPS agreement and the Patents Ordinance 2000 were introduced to make it compliant with norms of the agreement.However,the current patent Ordinance has been under constant criticism.It is argued that Pakistan has not been able to adhere to the internationally accepted best practices in the field of patents.The first part of this thesis is an endeavor to analyze various aspects of the Pakistani patent law and to find out areas of improvement in the existing patent Ordinance.In the second part,we use OLS regression to test the relationship between the impact of patent law on the economic development of Pakistan and we find a positive result.In the first chapter,background information,review of literature,aim of the research,significance,and methodology of work are presented.In the second chapter,the historical perspective and Summary of the Pakistan Patent Law discussed.The third chapter provides a relationship between patent law and technological innovation,Pakistan's economic development history and,findings of the present research.The fourth chapter considering the international and domestic situation facing Pakistan,predicts the future development of Pakistan's patent law and makes some suggestions.