PIJIP Supports the Open Covid Pledge
[Sean Flynn, Jorge Contreras and Meredith Jacob] PIJIP is a founding partner of the Open COVID Pledge, https://opencovidpledge.org/, and is providing institutional support for the project. This note explains our history with the project, how the pledge works, and why we think it will be helpful. At the end of this note is a link for organizations that want to support or use the Pledge themselves. Click here for more.
World Intellectual Property Organization DG Addresses Covid-19; Statement on Patent Sharing Due this Week
[Sean Flynn] Outgoing Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Francis Gurry, made two public statements this week addressing what he termed the “policy issues” raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. His initial response was that it is “far too early” to address access to medicine and other IP policy issues raised by COVID-19. But in a follow up briefing with the press he revealed that he favors a “special mechanism to share drug patents” and would be releasing a statement or policy on the issue later this week. Click here for more.
The Covid-19 Pandemic: R&D and Intellectual Property Management for Access to Diagnostics, Medicines and Vaccines
[Viviana Muñoz Tellez] The ongoing rapid spread of COVID-19 is challenging the capacity of governments and of the World Health Organization (WHO) to timely put in place a global coordinated response to the pandemic. Developing countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in particular in Africa are especially vulnerable to the unfolding effects of the public health crisis. A priority area for global collaboration is to advance research and development (R&D) for vaccines and medicines that are made available, affordable and accessible worldwide. Click here for more.
Patents and Coronavirus – A Role for Patent Pools?
[Jorge Contreras] Patent pools are private arrangements that enable participants to operate under one another others’ patent rights, to manage and administer the pooled rights on a centralized basis, and often to grant licenses of the pooled patents to third parties, with the proceeds split among the pool members according to an agreed formula. Patent pools have been around for a century in industries ranging from oil refinement to aircraft to semiconductors to digital media. In all of these cases, pools have enabled the efficient consolidation of patents in a manner that has facilitated licensing and commercialization. Click here for more.
UK Parliamentarians Call for COVID-19 Vaccine and Other Health Technologies To Be Open to All
[STOPAIDS] The Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Vaccinations for All, Dr Philippa Whitford, has called on the UK government to ensure equitable access to any COVID-19 related technologies in a cross-party letter to the Prime Minister’s office. The letter, signed by 130 parliamentarians, has support from all of the main political parties… The letter calls on the UK government to ensure any publicly funded vaccine is available on an open-access basis so all countries can afford to purchase, and indeed, produce the vaccine at a reasonable cost. The UK government has already committed £250 million towards researching a vaccine but unless public health conditions are attached to public research, big corporations can shut out anyone who can’t afford their prices. Click here for more on stopaids.org.uk.
Digital Surveillance Can Help Bring the Coronavirus Pandemic Under Control – But Also Threatens Privacy
[Jennifer Daskal] Israel’s top spy agency has been using secretly collected cellphone data to retrace the movements of those who tested positive for the coronavirus. The Polish government launched the “Home Quarantine” app so that people in quarantine can upload geo-located photos proving they’re at home. The South Korean government is using a combination of mobile phone data, credit card information and facial recognition software to track the movements of people who test positive for COVID-19. The government posts the details publicly to alert people who might have come in contact with the infected person. Public health benefits? Certainly. Privacy risks? Certainly as well. Click here for more.
See also: Jennifer Daskal in The Takeaway. Privacy Concerns Mount as Coronavirus Spreads. Link.
Urgent Legal Lessons From a Very Fast Problem – Covid 19
[Eric E. Johnson and Theodore C. Bailey] Abstract: The course of a pandemic is dictated not just by biology, but also by law. And crucially, unlike biology, law can be readily adapted in response to a pandemic. Unfortunately, the current law does not take account of the compressed timeframe and rapidly changing social needs that distinguish pandemic times from normal times. We thus suggest three urgent, early lessons for law in the pandemic context: First, free information flows save lives, an observation which has ramifications for freedom of speech and press, copyright law, and patent law. Identifying particular hazards that patent law poses to the free flow of scientific research findings, we suggest a government-funded reward system as an adjunct to the patent system to incentivize pandemic-relevant research and its rapid publication. Click here for more.
Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest Postponed
[Carolina Botero and Meredith Jacob] As the organizers of the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest we understand that in view of the COVID-19 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization, our primary focus is the safety of our participants and the support to society in this moment of crisis. Now more than ever, solidarity is required from those of us who have always understood the importance of thinking about the public interest. As stated in earlier, we have analyzed and consulted with potential attendees, track leaders, speakers, and the other Congress organizers. Because of ongoing uncertainty about our ability to hold the Congress in 2020, the final decision has been to move the Congress to 2021. Click here for more.
