A Paper Tiger? Compulsory License Regimes for Public Health in Europe

Lately, specially tailored compulsory license mechanisms aimed at serving public health have been established in France, Belgium and Switzerland. The introduction of these mechanisms was triggered by the controversy surrounding diagnostic gene patents. The present paper describes the (ongoing) global controversy and the conventional compulsory licenses, critically examines the newly introduced compulsory license mechanisms and compares them with the conventional compulsory license regimes.

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