Exceptions to Patent Rights in Developing Countries

he present paper on Exceptions to Patent Rights in Developing Countries is a part of the efforts of the UNCTAD/ICTSD Project to contribute to a better understanding of the use of patent exceptions for the pursuit of various national policy objectives. Exclusive patent rights may constitute important tools for the promotion of a country’s technological capacities, depending on that country’s level of development in a particular sector. On the other hand, a Government may prefer to keep certain activities outside the scope of exclusive rights, considering it more beneficial for society to have unlimited access to the products or services related to such activities.Thepaper approaches the issue of patent exceptions on two interrelated levels: first, it reviews a number of long established practices and principles of patent exceptions and their implementation in both developed and developing country legislation. Second, in analyzing pertinent WTO jurisprudence, the study highlights the possibilities of developing broader interpretations of the TRIPS provision on exceptions to exclusive patent rights.