Compulsory Licensing Under Patent Law In India: A Critique

Anjali Bhatt, Assistant Professor (Senior- Scale), School of Law, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun

INTRODUCTION

“One should not forget that patents represent an interventionist instrument, ultimately for the sake of community welfare. Thus, intervention to restrict some of the effects of patents may be required, when the community welfare is no longer served.” - Michael Kern

Patent law pursues the main aim of fostering and rewarding invention. It encourages revelation of information at the hands of patent holder to kindle further innovation and to allow the public to gain benefit out of the invention once the patent expires. The inflexible requirement for patent protection seek to guarantee that ideas in the public domain remain there for the unrestricted public use. Monopoly is, therefore, granted to exclude others from making, using or selling a claimed invention for a limited period of time, after which the competitors are free to use the invention.