Category Coronavirus

Promotion of TRIPS-Plus Intellectual Property Provisions Through the Special 301 Review: How Did It Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

[Mike Palmedo] This post introduces my chapter the Special 301 Report in the newly-published book Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines.  The chapter, titled “Unilateral Norm Setting Using Special 301” focuses on Special 301 listings from 2009 to 2020 related to intellectual property policies that can be used to access generic medicines. This post will also describe the Special 301 listings in the 2021 Special 301 Report, which was released after the Covid-19 pandemic had taken hold. There were some differences in the 2021 Report pertaining to specific TRIPS flexibilities useful in the fight against Covid-19. However, much of the 2021 Report was similar to the reports released before the pandemic – the Report still criticized countries for policies that could help the fight against Covid-19.

Addressing Exclusivity Issues During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

[Michael S. Sinha, Sven Bostyn, and Timo Minssen] Abstract: ... This chapter addresses exclusivity issues, with a particular emphasis on regulatory exclusivities for vaccines and therapeutics. We begin with a basic overview of the current regulatory exclusivity landscape in Europe and the US, followed by a discussion of current developments in COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. Next, we describe the influence of these technological developments on debates surrounding regulatory exclusivities while describing their relationship to other forms of exclusivities. From these assessments, we draw some lessons for market exclusivity, innovation, and access during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The Proposed TRIPS Waiver and Pharmaceutical Industry’s Concerns about Counterfeit COVID-19 Vaccines

[Muhammad Zaheer Abbas] Submission to the Australian Parliament’s Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Inquiry into Vaccine Related Fraud and Security Risks - Executive Summary: Australia needs to support the proposal of temporarily waiving intellectual property protections to scale up production and supply of vaccines and other COVID-19 related treatments and diagnostics. The Brand-name pharmaceutical industry’s claim that the proposed TRIPS waiver will result in the proliferation of counterfeit vaccines and treatments is not supported by empirical evidence.

The TRIPS COVID-19 Waiver, Challenges for Africa and Decolonizing Intellectual Property

[Yousuf Vawda] The intellectual property (IP) regimes of African countries are a function of their colonial past, which imposed strong protections, and which have been entrenched through the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). This has had a devastating effect on their ability to access necessary health products both before and during the current COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to reflect on the challenges that African countries face, before considering the implications of the WTO TRIPS waiver on COVID-19 (henceforth, waiver). In assessing the challenges faced by these countries, as well as the possibilities of improving access, this paper argues that while the waiver offers the best available solution to overcome the current supply shortages of a range of COVID-19 health products, in the longer term a break from this past—the decolonization of IP regimes—is necessary.

New Book – Intellectual Property Law and Access to Medicines: TRIPS Agreement, Health and Pharmaceuticals

[Srividhya Ragavan] Amaka Vanni and I are pleased to share our new book, Intellectual Property Law and Access to Medicines: TRIPS Agreement, Health, and Pharmaceuticals. The book maps 25 years of TRIPS from the perspective of access to medication discourse by looking at  three generations of access to medication debate.

The WTO TRIPS Waiver Should Help Build Vaccine Manufacturing Capacity in Africa

[Faizel Ismail] The current global health crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic has re-focused our attention on the inadequacy of the TRIPS agreement and the patent system to address global public health crises. This time, developing countries must ensure that the TRIPS waiver succeeds in creating the impetus for the building of manufacturing capacity in the poorest countries, especially in Africa, for vaccines, pharmaceuticals and other health technologies. This is the only effective way in which African countries can reduce their dependence on imports of essential medicines and build their health security, contributing to the achievement of the sustainable development goals, for the poorest countries.

Call for Proposals: Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest #IPWeek2021

From July 26 to September 10, the call for proposals will be open for the collaborative agenda of #IPWeek2021, Intellectual Property Week, the Public Interest, and COVID-19: learnings, discoveries, and challenges. This new version of Intellectual Property, Public Interest and COVID-19 Week will address the lessons and discoveries that the COVID-19 pandemic left to society, and future challenges in the post-pandemic period, in the relationship framework between intellectual property and the public interest.

Vaccine Nationalism

[Prof. Ujal Singh Bhatia ] Abstract: The author posits that the global public health impact of the Covid-19 pandemic along with the economic and distributional aspects of vaccines and treatments, involves a market failure without the underlying institutional safety nets for an effective, globally coordinated response. He proposes strong, self-standing institutions with clear mandates and resources to make effective interventions at three levels: political, financial and regulatory. Also, the WTO rules regarding export restrictions are at present too accommodative to allow for a quick response. For Intellectual Property, both manufacturing and licensing, and relaxation of IP rules should be considered.

Overview of SCCR 41 Progress on A2K Priorities: Broadcast, Copyright and COVID, Limitations and Exceptions

[Sean Flynn] PIJIP and other members of the global Access to Knowledge (A2K) Coalition participated as registered observers in the 41st meeting of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights. This note summarizes the positions of delegations and the recorded outcomes of that meeting in relation to the policy aims of the Coalition.

Notes from the WIPO Standing Committee on COpyright and Related Rights

[Anubha Sinha] Day 1 - Member states delivered opening statements and deliberated on the progress, substantive provisions, and method of work on the draft broadcasting treaty text. This blog post summarises positions and contentions that supported: 1) transparency in SCCR work 2) limitations and exceptions 3) addressing the object of protection and overbroad scope of rights in the draft treaty text.

WIPO Agrees to Hold Information Session on COVID

[Electronic Information for Libraries] WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR/41) has just held its first - and only - meeting in 2021. EIFL was represented by Teresa Hackett, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, Dick Kawooya, University of South Carolina, and EIFL Copyright Coordinator in Senegal, Awa Cissé, Universite Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Dakar...EIFL called for action on two agenda items: fair access to broadcast content in the proposed treaty for the protection of broadcast organizations, and for work to begin on exceptions for preservation and other priority areas. We also urged extreme caution on starting any work on the controversial issue of public lending right. In the main concrete outcome of the session, the Committee decided to hold an information session on the impact of the COVID pandemic on the cultural, creative and educational ecosystem during SCCR/42, which is due to take place in 2022.

Academic Open Letter in Support of the TRIPS Intellectual Property Waiver Proposal

[Letter endorsed by 124 Academics] The temporary TRIPS waiver - as proposed by India and South Africa and supported by more than 100 countries - is a necessary and proportionate legal measure towards the clearing of existing intellectual property barriers to scaling up of production of COVID-19 health technologies in a direct, consistent and effective fashion. We call on the governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the European Union to drop their opposition to the TRIPS Waiver proposal at the World Trade Organisation and to support the waiver.