Glossary of Terms Used in the Policy Paper

• Generic drugs: pharmaceutical products that are marketed under are non-proprietary or approved name rather than a proprietary name, and whose patent has either expired or is still valid. Generic drugs usually have the same effectiveness of brand-name drugs but are sold at a significantly cheaper price. 

• Reverse Engineering: the process by which a drug is analyzed so that its components are known then replicated. Reverse engineering were not a violation of agreements prior to the TRIPS as those protected only the ‘process’ rather than the ‘final product’ which is now also protected under TRIPS.

• Compulsory licensing: the grant by a government of permission to a third party to exploit a patented invention.

• Parallel importation: the importation of patented products from a third country where the products are cheaper.

• TRIPS flexibilities: sections of the agreement that allow governments latitude in the enforcement of the agreement to allow for national concerns such as, but not limited to, health emergencies.

• TRIPS plus: trade agreements, usually with the United States of America, that impose obligations on states that go further than TRIPS.

• Doha Declaration: a declaration of the WTO member states on TRIPS and public health, reiterating flexibilities in TRIPS with regard to health.

• Article 6 of the Doha declaration called on member states to expeditiously find a solution for states that do not have manufacturing capacity.

• Ministerial Decision of 30 August was a decision by the Ministerial Council of the WTO in 2003 that allowed parallel importation of generic medicines under very restricted circumstances.