Research interests
- Intellectual Property Law
- Climate Change Law
Current research
Climate change is the common concern of humankind which should be dealt efficiently through international cooperation. Innovations and transfer of environmentally sound technologies (“ESTs”) are one of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change which have been the prime focus of multiple multilateral agreements and negotiations. The research analyzes the access to such technologies which is vital for all the countries, irrespective of their developmental needs, so as to build a legal regime surrounding technology transfer (“TT”) of ESTs.
It broadly aims to answer the following questions: (i) whether, and, if so, to what extent the TRIPS Agreement offers legal and policy space which can facilitate innovation to enable effective and sustainable TT of ESTs? (ii) whether ESTs can be construed as ‘global public goods’ by employing a law and economics approach to the outlying problems? (iii) whether IPR is being a barrier to the dissemination of the wide variety of strategies required to combat the climate change? (iv) in order to build a ‘green intellectual property’ regime, how IPRs and its alternatives can be employed?
The research also deals with alternatives for enhancing technology transfer by exploring current TRIPS flexibilities, modifying the Agreement, non-IP flexibilities (like, technology pooling through a collective global approach, open innovation, global system to share know-how, initiatives on publicly funded technologies, bilateral or multilateral agreements for South-South solidarity etc.) and other legal and policy choices for the government and private sector.
