Patents in India are granted to encourage inventions and ensure their commercial exploitation. But compulsory licences could threaten the integrity of the system. Vikrant Rana takes a look.
The Patent Act provides compulsory licensing measures to ensure that the patents do not impede the protection of public health and nutrition, and that the patent rights are not abused by the patentee. The compulsory licence therefore serves to strike a balance between two disparate objectives—rewarding patentees for their invention and making patented products, particularly pharmaceutical products, available to large populations in developing and underdeveloped countries at a cheaper and aff ordable price.
Grant of compulsory licence under Section 84
Any interested person, under Section 84 of the Patent Act, may make an application for the grant of a compulsory licence three years aft er the date of grant of the patent on the grounds that:
The rest of this article is locked for subscribers only. Please login to continue reading.
If you don't have a login, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content. Please use this link and follow the steps.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription to us that we can add you to for FREE, please email Atif Choudhury at achoudhury@worldipreview.com
India, patent, pharmaceuticals, Indian Patent Act
