What is the legal status on using compulsory licensing for allowing access to drugs in poor countries?
Love: It is well accepted in international law that countries can use compulsory licenses on patents for a variety of purposes. The Paris Convention, the most important international treaty on patent right, says, “Each country of the Union shall have the right to take legislative measures providing for the grant of compulsory licenses to prevent the abuses which might result from the exercise of the exclusive rights conferred by the patent, for example, failure to work.” The United States is one of 151 countries that have ratified this treaty. The Paris Convention is also referenced in the GATT, the agreement which set up the World Trade Organization (WTO). The TRIPS agreement, Article 31 (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights — the part of GATT dealing with intellectual property) — specifically says that you can do compulsory licensing, but it narrows the grounds under which you can do it, and it sets out some safeguards. So under TRIPS, you can do compulsory licensi
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- What is the legal status on using compulsory licensing for allowing access to drugs in poor countries?
