Patents Act 1990

The Federal Court may make an order under this Part requiring the grant of a compulsory licence to exploit a patented invention.

The court may order a compulsory licence to be granted if certain conditions are met, including that demand in Australia for the invention is not being met on reasonable terms, authorisation to exploit the invention is essential to meet that demand and it is in the public interest to grant the licence. If the person seeking the compulsory licence is the patentee of another invention and is seeking the licence to exploit that other invention, the court must also be satisfied that the other invention involves an important technical advance of considerable economic significance on the original invention.

The court may also order a compulsory licence to be granted if the patentee has engaged in restrictive trade practices in connection with the patent under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 or under an application law (within the meaning of that Act).

The court may order a patent to be revoked after an order for a compulsory licence has been made (on the same grounds that apply to an order for a compulsory licence).

The patentee must be paid an agreed amount of remuneration, or an amount of remuneration determined by the court.