• Press
  • Offices
  • Contact
  • Legal notice
  • EN
    • DE
  • UPC
  • Firm
    • Main Focus
    • History
    • Guiding Principle
    • Code of Conduct
    • Awards and Rankings
  • Our Practice
    • Legal Areas
    • Industries
  • Our Team
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • UPC-Update
    • IP-Update
    • Publications
    • B&B Bulletin
  • Career
  • Menu Menu
FIND EXPERTS
  • UPC
  • Firm
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • UPC-Update
    • IP-Update
    • Publications
    • B&B Bulletin
  • FIND EXPERTS
  • Contact
  • Our Practice
  • Career
  • Offices
  • EN
    • DE
  • Legal Areas
  • Industries

Extension of TRIPS waiver to Covid-19 therapeutics and diagnostics.

15. December 2022/in Issue December 2022, Patents and Utility Models

The Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) decided in June that all “developing countries” can waive the protection of intellectual property necessary for the production and distribution of Covid 19 vaccines, including all processes, technologies and ingredients required for this (“TRIPS Waiver”). The term “developing country” is so broad in this context that it even includes the People’s Republic of China.

What is the TRIPS Agreement? The WTO states on its website: “The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property (IP). It plays a central role in facilitating trade in knowledge and creativity, resolving trade disputes over IP, and ensuring that WTO Members have the leeway to achieve their domestic policy objectives. It frames the intellectual property system in terms of innovation, technology transfer, and public welfare. The agreement is a legal recognition of the importance of the links between intellectual property and trade and the need for a balanced intellectual property regime. https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/trips_e.htm.

The coronavirus pandemic reignited the global debate over whether the multilateral trade regime protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) was restricting access to important medical products. The AIDS crisis in Africa was admittedly a negative example, where pharmaceutical companies (exploited) their monopoly and stood in the way of access to affordable AIDS medicines in Africa. Today, we are faced with unequal distribution of vaccines and medicines around the world. Patents have a “bad name” in this context. That is why, despite the flexibilities already enshrined in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), India and South Africa, along with a large number of developing countries, submitted a proposal in October 2020 for a temporary waiver in response to Covid-19, which has now been adopted by the Ministerial Conference. However, the reasons for the unequal distribution of Covid vaccines and medicines are not unique to patents. In fact, they are manifold, ranging from poor health structures to inadequate information campaigns to insufficient logistics on the ground. Poorer countries lack production expertise and capacity, and the ability to maintain the necessary refrigeration until the vaccine reaches the patient. There is also the injustice of unequal distribution, as richer countries have secured vaccines early through procurement contracts. It is not about patents. This is also why the TRIPS Waiver will not help at all to provide access to vaccines and medicines.

The pharmaceutical and biotech industries have been surprisingly silent on this issue, at least in terms of public discussion. Can the industry sit back because “only” Covid-19 vaccines are affected, or because the TRIPS Waiver falls short of the original requirements? No, because no matter how the TRIPS Waiver was specifically designed, it sends the wrong signal to the public. The TRIPS Waiver seems to confirm the narrative that patents stand in the way of equitable access to medicines, only maximize the profits of pharmaceutical giants, and cause millions of people to die. After all, if this were not so, why would the WTO, including the U.S., Europe and Germany, decide to abandon patents?

We should not sit back, because the same forces are now seeking an extension of the TRIPS waiver to all therapeutics and diagnostics that are helpful to Covid-19 patients. This applies to therapeutics that are effective against SARS-CoV-2, but also against other viruses, and likewise to therapeutics that can generally reduce mortality in covid patients, but are by no means specific to covid. This would include drugs for sepsis or pulmonary edema, but also immunosuppressive or anti-inflammatory drugs, IL-6-Ras, etc. There is a very good chance that the TRIPS waiver will be extended accordingly.

Cui bono? Certainly not the patients in developing countries, because the lack of access to medicines is due to unfair distribution, not patents.

Qui nocet? Certainly it hurts the system that provided the life-saving vaccines in such a short time. It will affect funding for smaller, innovative biotech companies. It may also affect other technical areas. If the message is that patents must be abandoned when humanity relies on a particular technology, what about technologies related to climate change mitigation and alternative energy, for example?

Public discussions lead to public perception and thus to political decisions. If we don’t like political decisions, we have to leave our “IP bubble” and participate in public discussions.

/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/boehmert_logo.svg 0 0 Lucia Biehl /wp-content/uploads/2022/04/boehmert_logo.svg Lucia Biehl2022-12-15 09:40:202024-03-26 12:19:15Extension of TRIPS waiver to Covid-19 therapeutics and diagnostics.

Author

Dr. Ute Kilger

Contents

More articles

  • ECJ on Interim Measures in Germany - Reactions in… 15. December 2022
  • New consumer protection law for digital goods 15. December 2022
  • From the land of the "Beetle smile" or on the… 15. December 2022

More Articles

ECJ on Interim Measures in Germany - Reactions in Case Law and Literature 15. December 2022
New consumer protection law for digital goods 15. December 2022
From the land of the "Beetle smile" or on the protection of the famous shape in Germany 15. December 2022

Menu

  • Firm
  • Our Practice
  • Career
  • News & Events
  • FIND EXPERTS

Informations

  • Press
  • Contact
  • Legal notice
  • Data Protection
  • General Terms and Conditions
  • Contact

Legal Areas

  • Employee Inventions
  • Data Protection
  • Designs
  • Domains
  • Information Technology
  • Anti-Trust
  • Licensing
  • Trade Marks
  • Patent Valuation
  • Patents & Utility Models
  • Patent Litigation
  • Product Piracy
  • Copyright
  • Unfair Competition

© Copyright 2025– BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT

Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top
Cookie settings Cookie settings

We need your consent before you can continue to use our website.


If you are under 16 and wish to give your consent to volunteer services, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission. We use cookies and other technologies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others provide you with more advanced information. For more information about how we use your data, please see our Data Protection Policy. There is no obligation to consent to the processing of your data in order to use this offer. You can revoke or adjust your selection at any time under Settings. Please note that due to individual settings, not all functions of the website may be available.

Cookie settings

Accept all cookies

Save settings

Accept only essential cookies

Individual data protection settings

Cookie details Privacy policy Legal notice

Cookie settings Cookie settings

If you are under 16 and wish to give your consent to volunteer services, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission. We use cookies and other technologies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others provide you with more advanced information. For more information about how we use your data, please see our Data Protection Policy. There is no obligation to consent to the processing of your data in order to use this offer. Please note that due to individual settings, not all functions of the website may be available. Here you can find an overview of all cookies used. You can give your consent to entire categories or view more information and thus select only certain cookies.

Accept all cookies Save settings Accept essential cookies only

Back

Cookie settings

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper functioning of the website.

Display cookie information Hide cookie information

Name
Provider Borlabs GmbH, Legal notice
Purpose Stores the settings of the visitors selected in the Cookie Box of Borlabs Cookie.
Data protection policy https://borlabs.io/privacy/
Cookie name borlabs-cookie
Cookie duration 1 year

Content from video platforms is blocked by default. If cookies from external media are accepted, access to this content no longer requires manual consent.

Display cookie information Hide cookie information

Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Used to unlock YouTube content.
Data protection policy https://policies.google.com/privacy
Host(s) google.com
Cookie name NID
Cookie duration 6 months

Privacy policy Legal notice