84. Compulsory licences
(1) At any time after three years from the date of grant of a patent, any interested person may apply to the Controller for a compulsory licence on grounds that (a) reasonable requirements of the public have not been satisfied; (b) the invention is not available to the public at a reasonably affordable price; or (c) it is not worked in India.
(2) An application may be made even by an existing licensee, and no person is estopped from alleging non-satisfaction of these requirements by reason of any prior admission or having accepted a licence.
(3) The application shall state the applicant’s interest and the facts on which it is based.
(4) If satisfied on the grounds above, the Controller may grant a licence on such terms as he thinks fit; (5) he may exercise the powers under section 88 incidental thereto.
(6) The Controller shall take into account: the nature of the invention, time elapsed, and measures already taken to work it; the applicant’s ability to work the invention advantageously; the applicant’s capacity to invest and take risk; and whether the applicant made efforts to obtain a licence on reasonable terms without success within a reasonable period (ordinarily not exceeding six months) — except in national emergency, extreme urgency, public non-commercial use, or established anti-competitive practice by the patentee — but not matters arising after the application was made.
(7) “Reasonable requirements of the public” are deemed unsatisfied if: refusal to license on reasonable terms prejudices an existing or new trade/industry, or fails to meet demand adequately or on reasonable terms, or hampers export markets or commercial development; or licence conditions unreasonably restrict trade in unpatented materials or industry development; or the patentee imposes exclusive grant-back, no-challenge, or coercive package-licensing conditions; or the invention is not worked commercially in India to an adequate extent/to the fullest practicable extent; or such working is prevented/hindered by importation by the patentee, persons claiming under him, purchasers from him, or others against whom infringement proceedings have not been taken.
