Compulsory Patent Licensing and Access to Medicines: A Silver Bullet Approach to Public Health? by Van Anh LE. London, New York Shanghai: Palgrave Macmillan 2022. xiii + 184 pp. Hardcover: €84.99, E-Book: €71.68. doi.10.1007/978-3-030-84193-5

Abstract

Chapter 1 introduces the concept of compulsory licensing when it first appeared under the 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which has given rise to the debate between free trade and patent exclusivity. [...]TRIPS hinders access to medicine in developing countries that “have resorted to compulsory licensing to solve the deadlock” (p. 45). The author's beautiful phraseology draws a picture of the discrepancy between these two countries without wasting volumes for comparison. [...]while India enjoys a proactive role in the private sector, Brazil's position is mainly based on its leaders’ political efforts.