the export of coronavirus vaccines had a severe impact on 91 countries. If increasing the number of global suppliers of medical tools is not prioritized, people in these countries will remain in a disproportionately disadvantageous position for access. The proposed IP waiver could provide a more expedited and automatic policy option for governments at the international level to facilitate increased access, instead of only relying on voluntary measures by the pharmaceutical industry.
Witnessing the current scenario and the governments battling for access to some diagnostics and protective equipment early in the pandemic, it was clear that least developed countries like Nepal and many others would be at the backfoot when it came to accessing scarce medical solutions. Rather than creating a major new loophole in the IP system by waiving patents, it is the idea urged by countries to expand access to vaccine technologies under the current WTO agreement known as Trips.
How can this waiver contribute to the fight against Pandemic?
Voluntary waivers or compulsory licensing!
To combat the crisis, one of the solutions being considered at the policy level and in the government is to use the compulsory license to shore up vaccine production by incorporating more and more firms. Patent owners can prefer compulsory licensing because they will still be entitled to royalties.
Compulsory licensing does help developing nations and LDCs!
Compulsory licenses are mainly intended to enable domestic production; although it is possible for a country to receive a compulsory license for export production in another country, this system has proven difficult to implement in practice. This, in fact, affects developing countries. The major issue here would be whether or not to waive the Patent right regarding the COVID-19 vaccines. A compulsory licensing system exists under Trips, also known as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which requires a government to license a patented invention to a third party without the patent holder’s permission. Negotiations with rights holders can already be bypassed under the law in the event of a national emergency, according to the rules.
What matters more: Life or Right?
There has been much discussion regarding whether COVID-19 vaccine patents should be waived to allow low-income countries to manufacture their own doses.
The main question here would be what matters more in this pandemic; Right to life or the Intellectual Property Right? When the whole world is fighting against the deadly Coronavirus so as to save human lives another world is debating regarding the issue in the waiver of Patent right. Discussions at WTO are notoriously slow, and reaching an agreement, particularly over the scope and duration of a waiver, might take months. Though a TRIPS waiver might be granted by a three-quarters vote of WTO members, it is unlikely that members would deviate from precedent.
And for now, it is not just the question of how significant the waiver idea could be but time to ponder on giving COVID-19 vaccines a patent reprieve to save humanity from this pandemic.
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