[Ip-health] Thailand's government use licences

[Peter Drahos]

A little more than 2 weeks ago I was in Thailand at the invitation of the
Thai Generic Industry. Amongst other things, I met with the Thai Minister
of Health. He told me that Thai officials had experienced several years of
fruitless negotiations over the drugs that are now the subject of
government use licences.  As a result of these negotiations, Thai
officials had come to the view that they had no other alternative but to
move down the path of issuing government use licences.
The Minister's account contradicts the claim that the Thai government did
not attempt a serious negotiation with patent owners before issuing the
licences. Moreover, given that the Thais were under no obligation to
negotiate before issuing a government use licence, it contradicts the
claim that they have no respect for patents.


Peter Drahos