EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan issues statement on European Union compulsory licensing in context of COVID-19, makes important statement about TRIPS Article 31bis

On 14 May 2020, Bernd Lange, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) wrote a letter to Phil Hogan (Commissioner for Trade, European Commission) on the “commercial aspects of intellectual property rights for medical products in the… Continue Reading

AstraZeneca, Pfizer, IFPMA on the WHO COVID-19 Pool at May 28, 2020 IFPMA Press Briefing

At a May 28,2020 press briefing organized by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), pharma CEOs and the IFPMA DG commented on the WHO proposal for a global pool for rights in technologies for the diagnosis, prevention… Continue Reading

Patents related to PX-UV, an R2-D2 look-alike robot that may disinfect public spaces from SARS-CoV-2

Texas-based company Xenex Disinfection Services, a manufacturer of robots that reportedly removes the SARS-CoV-2 virus from public spaces, has been making news lately. One of their robots, which uses ultraviolet lights to kill viruses and bacteria in surfaces and look… Continue Reading

KEI comments on the resolution WHA73: “Covid-19 Response” proposed by the European Union

On Friday, 24 April 2020, Knowledge Ecology International submitted comments on the resolution WHA73: “Covid-19 Response” proposed by the European Union (EU). The original zero draft text and the note verbale proposed by the European Union can be found here.… Continue Reading

Open letter asking 37 WTO Members to declare themselves eligible to import medicines manufactured under compulsory license in another country, under 31bis of TRIPS Agreement

Background In 2001, the World Trade Organization (WTO) began negotiations on the rules regarding patents and access to medicine. While several issues were clarified and resolved in the November 2001 “Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health”, the negotiations took… Continue Reading

WHO Director-General Remarks in support of global pooling of rights in COVID-19 Technologies and data, in open science and open data

On April 6, 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, gave a media briefing on COVID-19 and the WHO’s efforts to combat the pandemic. In his remarks, Dr. Tedros specifically highlighted the proposal by the… Continue Reading