ithout 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.
Please let us know what you think? Feel free to share.