INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

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• The United States has announced the support for waiving Intellectual Property (IP) protection for Covid-19 vaccines.
• The decision is a breakthrough in India and South Africa’s attempts to get World Trade Organisation (WTO) member countries to agree to such a waiver to fight the pandemic equitably.

Important points:

• The 1995 agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) requires ratifying countries to adopt a minimum standard of intellectual property rights to protect creators and promote innovation.
• India and South Africa have proposed a waiver from the implementation and application of certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement (waiving IP rights like patents, copyright, and trademarks) for prevention, containment or treatment of Covid-19.
• If the waiver is granted, WTO member countries will not be under an obligation, for a temporary period, to either grant or enforce patents and other IP-related rights to Covid-19 drugs, vaccines, and other treatments.
• This will immunise the measures adopted by countries to vaccinate their populations from claims of illegality under WTO law.
• At present, only drug companies which own patents are authorised to manufacture Covid vaccines.
• A lifting of patents will allow the formula to be shared with other companies.
• Once the formula is shared, any company which possesses the required technology and infrastructure can produce vaccines.
• This will lead to cheaper and more generic versions of Covid vaccines and will be a big step in overcoming vaccine shortage.
• This has opened up a glaring gap between developing and wealthier countries now.
• The countries having surplus doses of vaccines have already vaccinated a considerable percentage of their population and are returning to normalcy.
• Whereas, the poorer nations continue to face shortages, have overburdened healthcare systems and hundreds dying daily.
• The longer Covid circulates in developing nations, there is a greater chance of more vaccine-resistant, deadly mutations of the virus emerging.

Significance for India:

• The bulk of the vaccine doses produced in India are taken up by foreign countries which could pay more for the doses.
• This move can help scale up production to meet demand besides making the vaccines more affordable for everyone.
• Indian authorities have stated that the third wave of the pandemic is inevitable.
• Once the number of cases and deaths plateau, addressing shortages and making more affordable vaccines readily accessible could be the best way to prepare for the surge once again.
• Lifting of patents would be a compromise on control of safety and quality standards for vaccine manufacturing.
• Lifting of patents would be a huge deterrent to investing heavily on vaccine development during pandemics in the future.
• Eliminating those protections would undermine the global response to the pandemic, including ongoing effort to tackle new variants.
• It will create confusion that could potentially undermine public confidence in vaccine safety, and create a barrier to information sharing.

Way Forward

• Waiving IP protections alone isn’t enough to make vaccines available around the world. The countries must work with each other to expand manufacturing capabilities and support international vaccines.
• It’s important for both Indian manufacturers and the government to address concerns of patent holders to make sure that India’s vaccination drive is not compromised in any way.

SOURCE: THE HINDU , THE ECONOMIC TIMES ,MINT