Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on Industrial Property Law and Economics (CEIDIE), Faculty of Law, University of Buenos Aires, Monasterio 1138, Vte Lopez 1638, Argentina Tel: +541 1 4809 5600, ext. 5558, Fax: +541 1 4809 5617, Email: quies@infovia.com.ar

Revised 13 October 2003.

Abstract

The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and most national patent laws allow for the granting of compulsory licences for a variety of reasons. Compulsory licenses may be an important tool enabling a country to get access to drugs at affordable prices. While any country may use compulsory licences for this purpose, however, many — especially the least developed countries (LDCs) — lack or have insufficient pharmaceutical manufacturing capacities to make effective use of the system. Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health instructed the Council for TRIPS to find an expeditious solution to this problem. This paper¹ reviews the solution reached, as contained in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Decision adopted on 30th August, 2003, and the steps that should be taken in order to make it operative. It argues that a permanent solution to this problem should be based on a more straightforward and simpler approach.