Academics Join in Support of TRIPS Intellectual Property Waiver Proposed by India and South Africa

In a letter, more than 100 IP academics have spoken out in favor of a TRIPS Intellectual Property Waiver Proposal brought forth by India and South Africa. The United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, and the European Union all currently oppose the proposal. 

Academics Support Proposed TRIPS IP Waiver to Help Speed the End of the Pandemic

“TRIPS” is the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and is an international agreement between World Trade Organization members governing the standards and regulations for intellectual property. The waiver proposal brought forth by India and South Africa would waive intellectual property rights for technologies needed to prevent, treat, and contain COVID-19 until the pandemic has ended.

In the letter, the academics lay out what they see as the failings to deal with the virus and provide aid for middle- and low- income countries. The letter points out the WHO’s COVAX donation initiative which is designed to provide vaccines to these middle- and low-income countries. The initiative promised 2 billion doses of vaccine would be donated, but only 90 million have to date. 

The TRIPS Waiver Calls for a Unified Global Effort

The academics point to the failing of the pharmaceutical industry to voluntarily share information and data on the pandemic, as well as the extensive government funding that went into production of the vaccine as reasons that the waiver is needed. The letter notes that compulsory licenses are insufficient to help at this time and that they believe only a full waiver can provide the necessary help. The letter notes that the waiver is only one step in a unified global effort to combat the virus and its effects.

The European Union is one of the countries that has resisted supporting the waiver. The EU has stated that they believe the waiver in its current form is not acceptable but are open to negotiating the breadth of the waiver. One suggestion for text-based negotiations was set to begin on June 30, 2021, but no updated proposal has been seen from this.

Link to letter: Academic Open Letter in Support of the TRIPS Intellectual Property Waiver Proposal

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