Advocating for a world where intellectual
property law serves the public interest.

The Overlooked Role of Copyright in Securing Vaccine Distribution Equity

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the globe, we need to consider every avenue that could improve access to critical medicines needed to fight this deadly disease. The primary focus on securing patent waivers under TRIPS makes perfect sense because patents have been the traditional basis for protecting pharmaco-medical innovations, including the technologies for production and delivery. Compulsory access
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Repairing Medical Equipment in Times of Pandemic

[Ofer Tur-Sinai and Leah Chan Grinvald] Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world since early 2020 has underscored the need for an effective right to repair medical equipment. As healthcare systems have been pushed to the limit, keeping critical medical equipment (such as ventilators) in working order has become a matter of life and death. Unfortunately, the ability
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A deeper look into the EU Text and Data Mining exceptions: Harmonisation, data ownership, and the future of technology

[Thomas Margoni and Martin Kretschmer, Martin] Abstract: There is global attention on new data analytic methods. Data scraping (a typical first step for advanced data analytics), text and data mining (TDM, the extraction of knowledge from data) and machine learning (ML, often also simply referred to as Artificial Intelligence or AI) are seen as critical technologies. The legal issues involved
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EU Proposals regarding Article 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

[Nirmalya Syam] This Policy Brief presents an analysis of the proposal by the European Union (EU) with regards to Article 31bis of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), as part of a Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health in the circumstances of a pandemic. It discusses the EU’s proposed clarifications, why Article31bis does not
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EIFL WELCOMES WTO DECISION ON TRIPS WAIVER REQUEST

[Electronic Information for Libraries] EIFL welcomes the decision by members of the World Trade Organization​​ (WTO) to extend until 1 July 2034 the deadline for least developed countries (LDCs) to protect intellectual property under the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Although stopping short of the full LDC request, WTO members reached consensus on a 13-year
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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
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