TRIPS And Public Health The Role Of Compulsory Licensing Scheme On Drug Patent

This paper mainly discusses the Compulsory Licensing (CL) Scheme provided inthe WTO TRIPS Agreement, it analyzes how compulsory licensing scheme narrowthe divergence between pharmaceutical patent protection and public health objectives.Compulsory licensing can be used as measures that help countries bargain moreeffectively to lower medicine prices in order to deal with public health problems. TakeBrazil, one of the signatories to the TRIPS Agreement to have successfully negotiateddrug prices through the use of compulsory licenses, as example. While recognizingthe importance of Intellectual Property protection for the development of newmedicines, it is also of vital importance to ensuring that the health of the public isadequately protected. The paper aims to explore the provision of compulsorylicensing provided in the TRIPS Agreement. Currently, compulsory licensing iswidely used in the area of pharmaceuticals, which triggers concerns among somepharmaceutical companies with huge investment in this area. While developingcountries still argue that the terms of the compulsory licensing scheme remaincontentious and broad, which prevents them from effectively using it. Patented drugsare prohibitively expensive for consumers in the developing world, so by allowinggeneric companies to produce cheap generic version of expensive patented medicines through the grant of compulsory licenses, generic companies do not only benefiteconomically, but also can play a significant role in providing affordable drugs.However, the grant of compulsory licenses also poses a threat to pharmaceuticalindustries, and undoubtedly challenges the patent protection system. Though, TRIPStries to ensure that the protection of pharmaceutical patent contributes to the mutualadvantage of patent holders and users, but there is still a need for TRIPS to furtherharmonize rules and clarify certain terms providing protection to patent rights whileallowing the use of compulsory licenses for public health purposes. The paper alsoconcludes that effective use of compulsory licensing is a way forward in achieving abalance between the interest of the patent holders and users. But how countries couldeffectively use compulsory licensing scheme depends on how they devise andimplement their policies that address issues of public health while providing adequateprotection on pharmaceutical patents as well as how they incorporate these policiesinto their domestic laws considering their obligations under TRIPS Agreement. Thus,further discussion and clarification of compulsory licensing schemes’ role andimportance is needed, so as to enhance better awareness to all those concerned inorder to achieve a sound and balance policies between the protection of intellectualproperty rights and public health.