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  • Pandemic-driven suspension of IP rights [Elektronski vir] : a new way for promoting public policy objectives?
    Damjan, Matija
    The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need to accelerate the production and distribution of newly developed vaccines against it, which are largely protected by patents and other IP rights. These ... are supposed to finance the costs of research and development but may also hinder the manufacture and increase the prices. TRIPS Agreement allows governments to impose compulsory licensing allowing the local production or import without IP rights holder’s consent, against a set fee. Developing countries are arguing that this solution has not prevented production bottlenecks or ensured price availability of vaccines in the current emergency. South Africa and India have proposed to temporarily suspend certain international IP norms to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world. The paper analyses and compares the mechanisms of compulsory licence and of a waiver of obligations under the TRIPS Agreement, pointing out that suspending IP rights alone will not be sufficient to ramp up vaccine production where transfers of know-how and technology are necessary to use the patented knowledge. The adoption of the TRIPS waiver might herald a return of a more pragmatic view of IP rights as adaptable public policy tools rather than immutable property rights. New restrictions of IP rights might be introduced to address other global concerns, such as environmental crises.
    Source: Economics and business of the post COVID -19 world [Elektronski vir] : research monograph (Str. 35-49)
    Type of material - e-article ; adult, serious
    Publish date - 2023
    Language - english
    COBISS.SI-ID - 141790979

    Link(s):

    https://www.efri.uniri.hr/upload/knjiznica/E%20izdanja/ECONOMICSAND.pdf

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