Use requirements of patent laws during pandemic - 'litmus test'?

‘Exceptions’ and ‘limitations’ to IP rights vary in legislations. The need for addressing TRIPS flexibilities in the current pandemic is undeniable. Countries face a twin challenge to incentivise innovation for pandemic solutions and ensure universal access to medicine. Imposing use requirements on IP right holders provides an important opportunity for governments to take up public welfare measures. The chapter attempts to analyse the amendments effected to patent laws during the pandemic. The incorporation of governmental use clauses - enlarging the scope of governmental use for access to medicine - provide interesting insights into national policy considerations. Trust in IP rights can be justified only when they are available and accessible at the right time; this is the ‘litmus test for IP and its public purpose’. There cannot be second thoughts about it as health as a human right enjoys primacy.