Compulsory licensing of patents for crisis management [EU Legislation in Progress]

Written by Hendrik Mildebrath with Hugo Carmona Bas (4th edition, updated on 13.10.2025).

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted both the need for a resilient healthcare system and for quick access to inventions and technologies in challenging situations. Following this experience, EU lawmakers negotiated a compulsory licensing scheme intended to facilitate rapid use of patents while preserving strong patent protection as an incentive to innovate.

Views on the original European Commission proposal diverged. Civil society organisations supported broad application of the compulsory licensing scheme, while industry advocated a narrow scope. Stakeholder positions diverged more sharply than those of the co-legislators.

Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on 21 May 2025, largely amending the Commission proposal in favour of rights-holders. The compromise would: (i) exclude semiconductor crises, emergencies relating to gas supply security and defence-related products from the regulationʹs scope; (ii) preserve confidentiality of protected know-how; (iii) significantly lower the maximum fines and penalties the Commission may impose on licensees for non-compliance, and remove rights holders from the sanctions regime entirely. By consensus, the co-legislators rejected the Commission’s proposal to cap licensing fees. In line with the Parliamentʹs position, the competent advisory body must invite an observer from the European Parliament to relevant meetings.

Complete version

• October 2025: ‘Compulsory licensing of patents for crisis management‘ (4th edition)