A New Approach to the Compulsory License Conundrum

This chapter addresses the controversial topic of compulsory licenses by considering the international legal framework in conjunction with insights from social science research. The chapter suggests that there are different perspectives of patent policies which serve as “schemas” through which the same facts or law are viewed differently. This chapter explains and illustrates these schema to provide an explanation for some seeming misrepresentations even by scholars. This approach provides a fresh examination of a contentious topic and also may help provide insights into other areas where patent law and policy are in tension with public health or other social policy objectives.