Read on Twitter
This was a stunning development that hopefully signals the Biden Administration's rethinking of Trump's pro-monopoly patent policies. It also reinforces the need for DCPS to reopen public school aftercare so that I can respond to big developments that occur after 2:30 PM https://twitter.com/gigibsohn/status/1390043554182017026
Here are a few thoughts on the vaccine IP waiver matter. The caveat is that I'm no expert in TRIPS or international patent law, but most of this debate has been carried out in terms of patent incentives theory, which I feel reasonably knowledgeable about
I. It's unclear to me why the pharmaceutical industry has been so concerned about IP waivers in India and South America, in view of its positions in Impression Products v. Lexmark
I.A. In Impression Prods., the pharmaceutical industry argued that it relied on international price discrimination, essentially charging US consumers high prices to recoup for lower prices in countries like India https://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/15-1189_amicus_resp_biotechnology_innovation_organization.pdf
I.B. That seems at least somewhat in tension with the claim that a WTO IP waiver affecting India and S. America would affect incentives to innovate, which has been the industry's primary line of reasoning
II. But let's think about IP waivers comprehensively: Would COVID-19 vaccines not have been created in record time absent patent protection even in the US, as the pharmaceutical industry claims?
But I think that the COVID-19 vaccines themselves actually prove the opposite
But I think that the COVID-19 vaccines themselves actually prove the opposite
II.A. Consider: How often is a new breakthrough drug introduced, and then within months there are at least three strong competitors, all available in the marketplace—and no patent lawsuits among them? We've essentially had a patent waiver all along
II.B. Sure, the IP detente on COVID vaccines is based on PR and norms, not law. Sure, the patent suits will almost certainly start soon after the pandemic is over. But there are some really interesting features of the current patent-lawsuit-free innovation space:
