Frand and Compulsory Licenses: Analysis and Comparison
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This section compares two different forms of licenses being FRAND and complusory license. Both forms of licenses are critical to achieve access to otherwise difficult to access technologies. The FRAND licenses have been widely embraced, especially in the software, mobile phones, and communications sectors. Compulsory licenses have been sparingly used by Governments where the public's need for the invention was considered to over-weigh the needs of the patentee, essentially for pharmaceuticals. Compulsory licenses have been universally criticized for being an imposed burden on the patentee. In comparing these two forms of licenses, this section outlines that despite the obvious differences operationally both of these have stark similarities and highlights areas where complusory licenses operate more efficiently. In doing so, this section highlights that perhaps each of the forms of licenses can borrow from the other to minimize the weaknesses to ulitmately enable more access for critical inventions.
