Now that the WTO members have finally been able to agree on a TRIPS ‘waiver’ for covid-19 at the 12th Ministerial Conference, it is time to critically evaluate this waiver decision. To start with, the only key waiver in this decision is in its paragraph 3(b) which permits an eligible member to waive Article 31(f)… Continue reading The TRIPS COVID ‘Waiver’ Decision: Rhetorical Action or Realistic Solution?
The official draft text of the proposed TRIPS Waiver for covid-19 has now been released. It was circulated to members of the TRIPS Council on the 3rd of May 2022. The official draft text was accompanied with a cover letter from the Director-General of the WTO who noted that the text was the outcome of… Continue reading The Official Text of the Proposed TRIPS Waiver for Covid-19
Earlier this month, on the 3rd of November 2021, Ghana deposited its instrument of accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications (Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement) of 2015. The Geneva Act will thus enter into force, with respect to Ghana, 3 months after its accession… Continue reading Ghana’s Accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement [Updated*]
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
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?
The recent panel report in Saudi Arabia – Measures Concerning the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, the first intellectual property dispute where a WTO panel examined the security exception in Article 73 of the TRIPS Agreement, has now been appealed by Saudi Arabia ‘into the void‘. This means that the WTO’s dispute settlement body cannot adopt… Continue reading Saudi Arabia’s appeal ‘into the void’ at the WTO
Emmanuel Oke 