Recognised and Appropriate Grounds for Compulsory Licences: Reclaiming Patent Law’s Social Contract

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This chapter discusses the existing framework of compulsory licensing at the international level and the grounds upon which licences can be granted. The chapter uses that background to analyse whether patent law’s social contract is a reason in favour of compulsory licensing. The chapter finds that compulsory licensing is worthy of thorough consideration in order to promote competition. However, whether competition is promoted will be fact specific, technology specific, market specific, and timing specific. The chapter concludes that just as the social contract of patent law requires balance, so too does the use of compulsory licensing. Consequently, compulsory licensing deserves greater attention as a means to contribute to rebalancing patent law’s social contract.