[Ip-health] "breaking" patents

[GRAIN LB]

Dear friends

I don't work directly in drug patenting arena but on IPR as it affects
people's control over biodiversity. Still, it's extremely annoying how
the mainstream media are getting away with all this talk of "breaking"
patents to describe what the governments of Brazil and Thailand have
recently done through compulsory licensing. I'm not a lawyer but I don't
understand how they can use this kind of terminology since the
possibility of such licensing is written into patent law not to mention
the TRIPS Agreement. It's part of the deal when you get a patent. So
what is being broken?

It reminds me of the campaign to instill the word "piracy" in our minds,
to demonise people who copy (regardless of how people understand fair
use under copyright law or what they think is legitimate).

Unless this term "breaking" patents is really correct, the media should
be challenged and stopped from using it any further. No?

thanks & kind regards
Renee Vellve
GRAIN

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