Patent protection in China has been a point of concern for device makers for some time, but so has patent piracy. The Peoples Republic of China has issued some amendments to its patent law that allow for adjustments and extensions to the term of a patent, changes that are a welcome bit of news for companies in the life sciences.
Even as World Trade Organization (WTO) members continue to negotiate a proposal to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19-related medical products, the organization agreed June 29 to grant a third extension to the transition period that exempts least developed countries from some of the IP provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Noticeably lacking in the G7 communique following its recent U.K. summit is support for a proposed World Trade Organization waiver on intellectual property related to drugs and other medical products used to prevent, contain or treat COVID-19 infections.
In seeming opposition to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s support of a proposed compulsory World Trade Organization intellectual property (IP) waiver on COVID-19-related medical products, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris signed onto the G20’s May 21 Rome Declaration that commits the member countries to work to defeat the pandemic within the current flexibilities of the TRIPS agreement by promoting voluntary IP licensing agreements, technology and knowledge transfers, and patent pooling on mutually agreed terms.
More than 150 U.S. patents could be at stake if the World Trade Organization (WTO) were to adopt an intellectual property waiver as originally proposed by India and South Africa.
The Biden administration’s May 5 about-face on the proposed TRIPS waiver of intellectual property (IP) protections for COVID-19-related medical products is not playing well with U.S. industry, EU trading partners and others concerned about the long-term unintended consequences.
The Biden administration’s May 5 about-face on the proposed TRIPS waiver of intellectual property (IP) protections for COVID-19-related medical products is not playing well with U.S. industry, EU trading partners and others concerned about the long-term unintended consequences.
The latest salvo in the debate over patents protecting COVID-19-related drugs, devices and vaccines came this week from U.S. industry organizations, including Advamed, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee held the first of its two hearings on the supply chains for a variety of products vital to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While electoral politics were on full display during the hearing, a recurrent theme was the need to bring supply chains back to the Western Hemisphere as a solution to the fraudulent products shipped to the U.S. from Hong Kong and China.
