Features of Compulsory Licensing Implementation and Implementation of Other Mechanisms for Restricting Rights of Copyright Holders in the Field of Medicines’ Protection

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze certain aspects of legal regulation related to the implementation of compulsory licensing mechanisms and related mechanisms for restricting the rights of copyright holders. The relevance of the issues discussed in the article is confirmed by the presence of a large number of discussions that intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, legislative initiatives and projects. It is emphasized that at the moment the mechanism of compulsory licensing is being modernized both in Russia and in foreign countries. The paper proposes to pay attention to issues related to the implementation of mechanisms for restricting the rights of copyright holders of inventions protected by patents, in particular in the field of creation, production and circulation of medicines. The paper analyzes individual provisions of domestic legislation and legislation of a number of foreign countries, rules of international agreements, as well as legislative initiatives and projects in the field under study. Additionally, attention is drawn to the existence of terminological inaccuracy, which takes place in modern research works, discussions and media coverage. A separate part of the study is devoted to practical aspects — modern judicial practice is analyzed. As a result of the research, the author has drawn some conclusions, in particular, that the mechanisms of compulsory licensing and restriction of the rights of copyright holders in a compulsory manner have common features, they should be considered in a uniform set of regulatory provisions and, nevertheless, they are subject to differentiation. When implementing proper legal mechanisms, on the one hand, the legitimate rights of the copyright holders of industrial property objects should not be violated. On the other hand, the safety and well-being of the population should be ensured, and cases of copyright abuse by pharmaceutical companies — copyright holders — should be excluded.