Drug patents and intellectual property rights.

Inquisitive scientists are untiring and relentless in the hard work they perform day in and day out. In this pursuit, a researcher has to exercise their intellectual expertise in its entirety. Eventually, all credit of the invention is vested with the inventor who has the right of control over their intellectual creation. Likewise, pharmaceutical companies spend extravagantly in successfully introducing a novel drug from hundreds and thousands of lead compounds. Hence, it is a prerogative for every company to protect its innovative products from unauthorized duplication. Certainly, "patents" are the sole custodians of these products of medical intelligence - the drugs! This review focuses on the various intricacies of the drug patent system all over the world with special emphasis on India, Europe, and the United States. A note on other intellectual properties such as copyrights, trademarks, and designs is also added.