Copyright infringement is not intended

 

Context: At the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, India and South Africa sought to remove intellectual property rights restrictions on the use of COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and diagnostic devices.

 

Details

• In October 2020, at the WTO’s Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council, India and South Africa proposed that the WTO do away with certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the duration of the pandemic to facilitate access to technologies necessary for the production of vaccines and medicines.
  • Such a waiver would aid scaling up of local production, critical to ensure wider access to affordable and effective vaccines.
  • Most of these patents are held by pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and the European Union.
• The waiver proposal was blocked at the TRIPS Council and the WTO ministerial Council though there have been several rounds of discussions involving ministers of several WTO member-countries.
• In the last year though 100 countries, including the U.S., supported the proposal, the EU remained a stumbling block.

 

Present Status of the Proposal

• Reports have emerged that India, South Africa, the U.S. and the EU have arrived at an agreement.
• A draft of this agreement, which has been circulated among 164 members of the WTO, is likely to be taken up for discussion this month. A consensus of all members is necessary for a proposal to be approved.
• The draft says all patent rights that protect the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines will be waived for three-five years.
• As relatively few countries have expertise in making vaccines, a waiver of this sort could help improve global access.
• All member countries, through their governments, can authorize the manufacture as well as export of vaccines produced in these conditions.
• Access to new drugs and diagnostic technologies are necessary to keep people safe everywhere.

 

Concerns

• On the one hand, the pandemic isn’t over, and despite the widespread adoption of vaccines, the evidence is overwhelming that vaccines are only protective against severe disease but ineffective at curbing transmission.
• It is possible that vaccines developed using the early strains of the virus may become ineffective over time and newer ones, potentially employing newer approaches, may be necessary in the months and years ahead.
• Critics argue that such a waiver for vaccines is too little, too late.
• Critics say that central to the process of vaccine manufacturing are ‘trade secrets’ that specify the ingredients and chain of steps necessary to make them. The current waiver doesn’t automatically compel patent rights holders to share this information with a potential manufacturer for free.
• This waiver is limited to vaccines. The original proposal sought a waiver on therapeutics and diagnostics and the agreement only says that a “discussion” on this can be held after six months.

 

About Intellectual Property Rights

• Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect.
• Intellectual property rights include patents, copyright, industrial design rights, trademarks, plant variety rights, trade dress, and geographical indications.
• The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods, to achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time.
  • This gives economic incentive for their creation, because it allows people to benefit from the information and intellectual goods they create, and allows them to protect their ideas and prevent copying.
  • These economic incentives are expected to promote innovation and contribute to the technological progress of countries.

 

Steps taken by the Government

• The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) has been set up to coordinate the implementation of the National IPR Policy.
• IP awareness programmes have been undertaken in academic institutions, at both school and college level, as also for industry.
• To streamline the processing of IP applications, IP procedures have been simplified and made user friendly by amendment to the Patents Rules in 2016 and Trademarks Rules in 2017.
• Under the amended Patents Rules, 80% patent fee reduction has been provided for Startups as compared to large companies.
• Establishment of Center of Excellence in Intellectual Property.
• Providing IP Facilitation Support, Help-Desk services For IPR.
• Creation of IPR Awareness through Digital Media.

 

Way Forward

• While adjudicating the claims of intellectual property rights, a balance must be struck between contemporary claims and the sustainable interests of the future generations.

 

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/will-a-limited-and-conditional-wto-nod-to-remove-intellectual-property-rights-on-the-use-of-covid-19-vaccines-help/article65240436.ece?homepage=true