Grounds for compulsory licences

Compulsory licenses may be issued in the following cases:

1. 1.National interest and public benefit: where, in the view of the highest official of the relevant executive body, national interests and public benefit (such as national security, nutrition, health, or the development of other sectors of the country's economy) require that the executive body or specified third parties exploit the invention;
2. 2.Adoption of anti-competitive practices: where the exploitation by the owner of the invention or persons authorized by them is contrary to free competition, and the highest official of the relevant executive body determines that exploitation of the invention will remedy the problem;
3. 3.Failure to work the invention in Iran: where three years have elapsed from the date of filing of the patent application or two years from the date of issuance of the patent, and the inventor has, without a valid excuse, failed to work it in Iran or to supply it sufficiently. In calculating the protection period, the longer period shall be applied;
4. 4.Existence of dependent inventions: where a later invention that involves an important technical advance and is of considerable economic significance cannot be exploited without using an earlier invention.