Role Intellectual Property Rights in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Human, social, economic and environmental development are meant for sustainable development. The only hope of the present lies in the scientific advancement and innovations that lead to sustainability in future. Those innovations are fostered by conferring the rights to those innovators as their intellectual property(IP). Protecting IP rights will encourage the investment, research and development in the targeted industries which would play a vital role in realizing the sustainable development goals (SDGs). There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in 2016 covering from poverty to climate change in which the role of the international IP framework is significant. Already the IP protection was extended to green-tech, Clean-tech to foster new ideas and to reduce the first mover disadvantage. This paper primarily attempts to analyze the IP framework in India whether it catalyzes the investment for innovation in sustainable projects meant to realize the SDGs by 2030. Secondly, examining the conducive nature of IP legislation strengthening the industrial property from design to trademark. Finally, analyzing the balancing nature of IP as a vector of life saving drugs and breakthrough technologies made available in the market for public purposes and preserving the interest of innovators.