The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver decision at the World Trade Organization will have negligible impact on fighting the pandemic.
Authors
Prabhash Ranjan, Professor and Vice Dean, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Praharsh Gour, Directorate General of Trade Remedies, India.
Summary
The recently adopted Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver decision at the World Trade Organization is a grossly inadequate and insincere response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This paper criticizes the TRIPS waiver for being faulty on several fronts such as: excluding COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics from its fold and focusing only on COVID-19 vaccines; restricting its coverage to only patents and leaving out other intellectual property rights; excluding developed countries that possess manufacturing and technological capability from being eligible exporters of COVID-19 vaccines; and its perplexing silence on the transfer of technology.
It will have negligible impact on fighting the pandemic, sets an enfeebled example for the future, and is a classic case of “too little too late”.
Published in: Asian Journal of International Law
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