By Donald Zuhn --
Earlier today, the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), Licensing Executives Society (LES) International, LES USA & Canada, and New York Intellectual Property Association (NYIPLA) issued a joint statement expressing their concern regarding reports that the European Union, India, South Africa, and United States had reached a tentative compromise on a proposed TRIPS waiver of intellectual property rights (see "More on Leaked WTO COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Waiver Compromise"). The group indicated that they "strongly support equitable, widespread and successful distribution of vaccines necessary to meet the challenges of COVID-19," but argued that "the proposal currently being reported incorrectly portrays IP as a barrier to production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines," adding that they "know of no evidence to support that IP is such a barrier." Instead, the group cites a recent statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) that "there is enough [vaccine] supply to achieve our targets . . . [and that t]his is not a supply problem; it's an allocation problem." The group then suggests that "[s]olving the allocation problem is best accomplished by focusing on improvements to supply chain and distribution issues, rather than by concentrating on the red herring of intellectual property as an alleged barrier."
For additional information regarding this topic, please see:
• "More on Leaked WTO COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Waiver Compromise," March 21, 2022
• "Compromise Reportedly Reached on COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Waiver," March 16, 2022
• "Sen. Tillis Writes to U.S. Trade Representative (Again) Regarding TRIPS Waiver," December 12, 2021
• "U.S. Trade Representative Responds to Letters from Senators Regarding TRIPS Waiver," November 14, 2021
• "U.S. Chamber of Commerce Urges Administration to 'Double Down' on Global Vaccine Distribution," November 3, 2021
• "Is This the WTO Waiver End Game?" July 25, 2021
• "BIO Declaration on Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments and Role of IP," June 24, 2021
• "GOP Legislators Write in Opposition to Proposed TRIPS Waiver," May 16, 2021
• "Population of Patents at Risk from Proposed WTO Patent Waiver," May 12, 2021
• "Sen. Daines Urges Biden Administration to Withdraw Support for COVID-19 IP Waiver," May 12, 2021
• "Pfizer CEO Pens Open Letter on COVID-19 Vaccine IP Waiver," May 10, 2021
• "If the Devil of the WTO IP Waiver Is in the Details, What Are the Details?" May 9, 2021
• "The Road to Hell Is Paved with What Everybody Knows," May 6, 2021
• "BIO & IPO Issue Statements on Biden Administration's Support for Proposed WTO Waiver," May 6, 2021
• "Biden Administration Supports Waiver of IP Protection for COVID-19 Vaccines," May 5, 2021
• "Suspending IP Protection: A Bad Idea (That Won't Achieve Its Desired Goals)," April 26, 2021
• "Sen. Tillis Asks Biden Administration to Oppose WTO Waiver Proposal," April 21, 2021
• "IP Organizations Support Continued Opposition to Waiver Proposal," April 5, 2021
• "Industry Coalition Supports Continued Efforts to Oppose Waiver Proposal," March 29, 2021
• "BIO and PhRMA Urge Biden Administration to Oppose Proposed WTO TRIPS Waiver," March 11, 2021
• "IPO Sends Letter on IP Law and Policy to President-Elect and Vice President-Elect," January 4, 2021
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