Founded on January 1, 1995, India has signed and ratified the Agreement. The agreement recognizes a free economy and includes intellectual property rights as part of it. After independence, India enacted the Indian Patent Act in 1970 through the Tekchand Committee in 1948, the Iyengar Committee in 1957, and the Joint Parliamentary Committee in 1965 and 1967. New patent law was enacted in 2005 to amend the 1970 law, which has been in force since May 5, 2006.