Compulsory Patent Licensing and Access to Medicines: A Silver Bullet Approach to Public Health? - Paperback

by Van Anh Le (Author)

This timely monograph focuses on India and Brazil's use of compulsory licensing, one of the most significant and controversial TRIPS flexibilities. This is a topical work at this critical time when the COVID-19 has stirred up the debate about compulsory licensing and access to medicines. A closer look into the historical use of compulsory licences in certain countries can offer some takeaways for the current situation.

The author studies historical developments and political conditions of the patent system and compulsory licensing from the earliest stage to the modern arena, with a great emphasis on TRIPS. After conducting a cross-national study of India and Brazil, the book moves on to evaluate the different philosophies on compulsory licensing of multilateral organizations such as the EU, the WIPO, the WTO, and NGOs.

This important book will strongly appeal to intellectual property students, academics, policymakers, and lawyers practicing in the area. It will also be of interest to academics working in the areas of international law, development, and public health as well as state actors and others with relevant concerns working in multilateral organizations.

Back Jacket

Dr. Van Anh Le has written an important and timely new book focusing on the ability of countries to provide essential medicines to their populations even when these medicines are patented.

--Martin J. Adelman, Theodore and James Pedas Family Professor of Intellectual Property and Technology Law, George Washington University Law School.

The work of Van Anh Le is a timely and much needed one. It provides an updated and useful analysis of current global intellectual property flexibilities and case studies from several developing countries including India and Brazil. It also provides policy recommendations which many developing counties could consider while designing their national intellectual property protection regimes. A must have in any library.

-- Mohammed El Said, Professor in International Trade and Intellectual Property Law, School of Law and Social Science, University of Central Lancashire.

This timely monograph focuses on India and Brazil's use of compulsory licensing, one of the most significant and controversial TRIPS flexibilities. This is a topical work at this critical time when the COVID-19 has stirred up the debate about compulsory licensing and access to medicines. A closer look into the historical use of compulsory licences in certain countries can offer some takeaways for the current situation."

The author studies historical developments and political conditions of the patent system and compulsory licensing from the earliest stage to the modern arena, with a great emphasis on TRIPS. After conducting a cross-national study of India and Brazil, the book moves on to evaluate the different philosophies on compulsory licensing of multilateral organizations such as the EU, the WIPO, the WTO, and NGOs.

This important book will strongly appeal to intellectual property students, academics, policymakers, and lawyers practicing in the area. It will also be of interest to academics working in the areas of international law, development, and public health as well as state actors and others with relevant concerns working in multilateral organizations.

Van Anh Le is Departmental Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Oxford, UK.

Author Biography

Van Anh Le is Departmental Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Oxford, UK.