Earlier this month, I blogged about the proposal submitted to the WTO’s TRIPS Council by India and South Africa. The proposal requests for the waiver of the obligations in the TRIPS Agreement on copyright, industrial designs, patents, and undisclosed information in relation to the prevention, containment, and treatment of COVID-19. This post is a follow-up… Continue reading Suspending TRIPS to Fight COVID-19? Part 2
The final award in Bridgestone v. Panama (dated 14 August 2020) is the latest instalment in a line of cases where corporate actors have challenged intellectual property measures and court decisions affecting intellectual property rights before investment tribunals. Bridgestone involved the latter i.e. a court decision involving intellectual property rights. The facts of the case… Continue reading Bridgestone v. Panama: Investment Tribunals are not Appellate Courts
One of the companies at the fore-front of developing a vaccine for COVID-19, Moderna, has pledged not to enforce its COVID-19 related patents during the pandemic. This is commendable. While recognising that ‘intellectual property rights play an important role in encouraging investment in research’, Moderna stated that: …there are other COVID-19 vaccines in development that… Continue reading Moderna Pledges Not to Enforce COVID-19 related Patents during Pandemic
India and South Africa have now submitted a proposal (dated 2 October 2020) to the WTO’s TRIPS Council requesting for the waiver of Sections 1 (Copyright), 4 (Industrial Designs), 5 (patents), and 7 (undisclosed information) of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement in relation to the prevention, containment, and treatment of COVID-19. The waiver would… Continue reading Suspending TRIPS to Fight COVID-19?
Emmanuel Oke 