Research On Intellectual Property Waiver For COVID-19 Vaccines

The outbreak of the COVID-19 plunged the world into a public health crisis.Vaccines are the focus of global attention.However,there are still shortages and unfair distribution of vaccines.Developing countries such as India and South Africa submitted a proposal to the TRIPs Council on the waiver of intellectual property rights(IPR)related to the prevention and control of the epidemic,requesting the waiver of almost all kinds of intellectual property rights that is useful in the epidemic.The obligation to protect the above-mentioned intellectual property rights is a complete suspension of intellectual property protection,among which the waiver of intellectual property rights for the COVID-19 vaccine has become the focus of disputes among countries.Regarding whether the intellectual property rights of the COVID-19 vaccine should be exempted to improve vaccine accessibility,the countries focus on its legitimacy,necessity and feasibility.The waiver is justified in principle.From the perspective of the relationship between medicines intellectual property rights and the right to public health,according to the consensus reached by the member states in the Doha Round,in a public health crisis,the protection of intellectual property rights should not hinder the protection of public health.It is justifiable to restrict intellectual property rights to a certain extent so that they give way to the protection of public health.But the waiver is not unconditional.The solutions proposed by India,South Africa and other countries in their proposals harm the expected interests of the right holders,undermine the intellectual property protection system,and are not conducive to the long-term health of human beings.Therefore,the waiver programs of India,South Africa and other countries are debatable.When it comes to its necessity,by examining the international rules of TRIPs flexibilities related to public health,the domestic legislation and the practice of each member,it can be seen that the flexibilities are not adequately applied and fail to play their due role.However,after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic,compulsory licensing has attracted the attention of various countries,and bills have been introduced to promote the application of compulsory licensing.In addition,tools such as patent pools to promote cooperation in intellectual property rights related to COVID-19 vaccines have also been established one after another.Measures such as extensive international cooperation and voluntary licensing have played an effective role in the expansion of vaccine production capacity,and obstacles to the application of TRIPs flexibility are expected to be resolved in the WTO negotiations.It can be seen that the existing measures,such as TRIPs flexibility measures related to public health,strengthened international cooperation measures,active voluntary licensing of pharmaceutical companies,etc.,provide some methods to solve the problems of access and affordability of COVID-19 vaccines.Considering the efficiency of implementation,the above measures should be fully utilized first.Therefore,the necessity of completely suspending intellectual property protection is insufficient.The waiver is feasible under certain conditions,but the proposed waiver plans is not practical.Factors affecting the accessibility of vaccines,such as raw material supply issues,technical secret licensing issues,and insufficient technical capabilities in developing countries,cannot be resolved through this proposal.It is also difficult to determine how the plan should determine the scope of the waiver and when an agreement can be reached.Therefore,objectively,the proposed waiver plans lack operability.The virus is constantly mutating,and the vaccine is a key tool to prevent severe illness and death.The high vaccination rate is conducive to reducing the possibility of the emergence of new varieties.Therefore,it is necessary to improve the accessibility and affordability of the COVID-19 vaccine worldwide is a top priority.In this case,the role of intellectual property rights should be brought into full play.International organizations and countries should actively take measures related to intellectual property rights to promote the production and distribution of vaccines.The World Trade Organization should first reach agreement on waiver as soon as possible and develop rules on international immunity for intellectual property rights applicable to future public health crises.However,there is a need for further discussion on the specific form and scope of the exemption.In view of the value of intellectual property rights to the long-term healthy development of human beings,member states should not be exempted from all obligations to the intellectual property rights of the COVID-19 vaccine.The waiver should be made to the extent that is justified,necessary and practicable.At the same time,the international community should abandon "vaccine nationalism",strengthen international cooperation to expand vaccine production capacity,and improve and use existing international rules and tools to promote equitable distribution of vaccines.From China’s perspective,as the largest developing country in the world,China should continue to support the World Trade Organization to reach a resolution on the waiver as soon as possible.China should actively participate in the negotiation and put forward practical suggestions on the form and scope of waiver.China should actively participate in the improvement of international intellectual property legislation.Moreover,China should improve the domestic patent open licensing system and patent compulsory licensing system,and strengthen the protection of pharmaceutical trade secrets.At the same time,in order to help developing countries obtain vaccines,China will continue to strengthen foreign vaccine cooperation and assistance.