62 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
then next important question is, 'What is the justification for the IPRs regime?5. Answer to this question shows that the very foundation of the regime is doubtful.
The TRIPS agreement will lead to the creation of new export markets, which will be protected by IPRs rule. In this sense the adoption of higher standards of intellectual property protection worldwide will essentially benefit the countries and companies having technology worth protecting. The overall effects of the new regime will differ from country to country. Now that India has committed itself to introduce the new regime, another important question is, 'What are the likely effects of the Patent Bill, in its present form, on India?5 Answer to this question will help in answering the fourth important question, 'What is the strategy India must adopt under the new regime so that maximum possible benefits are achieved?5.
THE UNDERLYING THEORY OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE PATENT BILL,1999
Intellectual creations viz. innovations, discoveries, literary works have great social value but are difficult to create. In the absence of an appropriate law, the creator of a useful intellectual idea has difficulty in exploiting its social value in the form of private profits. The nature of intellectual idea is such that one person^ use of an idea does not diminish its availability for others. Thus, an intellectual idea is non-rivalrous in its consumption. Also, once others know of an idea, in the absence of a suitable law excluding them from using it is very expensive. That is, an idea or an intellectual property once revealed acquires properties such as non-rivalriness and non-excludability of a public good. Therefore, as in the case of public good the creator of an idea or an intellectual property faces a problem of non-appropriability. This, it is argued, results in market failure. As in the first place, the buyer does not know the value of an idea (and hence pay for it) until he acquires it and at the same time he can not have an idea until he is ready to pay for it. Second, while striking a deal if the inventor discloses the technology he has nothing to sell, and if he does not then the buyer has no inkling of what is there for sale. Therefore, it is claimed that under the free market conditions too little of socially useful ideas are supplied by private agents leading to economic inefficiency.
Analogous to the responses to the market failure in the supply of a public good, there can be three responses to this market failure:
First, the government itself provides intellectual ideas. Under this