Intellectual Property Rights and Access in Crisis

Abstract

The importance of access to intellectual property rights (IPR) protected subject-matter in two crucial areas – public health, and educational and cultural engagement – has been extensively demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they involve separate legal areas, patent and copyright, the common thread linking the two is intellectual property's difficult relationship with access in the public interest. This paper examines the tensions caused by access barriers, the tools used to reduce them and their effectiveness. It is clear that the access barriers magnified by COVID-19 are not restricted to narrow or specific contexts but are widespread. They are created by, and are a feature of, our existing IPR frameworks. Open movements provide limited remedies because they are not designed to, nor can adequately address the wide range of access barriers necessary to promote the public interest. Existing legislative mechanisms designed to remove access barriers similarly fail to effectively remedy access needs. These existing options are premised on the assumption that there is a singular “public” motivated by homogenous “interests”, which fails to reflect the plurality and cross-border reality of the public(s) interest(s) underpinning the welfare goals of IPR. We conclude that a systemic re-evaluation is required and call for positive and equitable legal measures protective of the public(s) interest(s) to be built within IPR frameworks that also address non-IPR barriers. The current pandemic and development of a “new normal” provides a crucial opportunity to comprehensively consider the public(s) interest(s), not just during a global health crisis, but on an ongoing basis.

The Role of Saudi Arabia’s Intellectual Property (IP) Law in Governing the Modern Video Game Landscape

“…Most of the major video game publishers, developers, and players operate worldwide. Copyright law varies in different national jurisdictions, with variations also occurring in the cultural perceptions of intellectual property and the territorial scope of IP protection within the borders of each country, thus demanding harmonization (Walsh et al, 2021). International treaties and conventions, including the Berne Convention and TRIPS, focus on providing a legal framework for cross-border protections to reduce IP piracy, although problems regarding uniformity still exist.…”

Patent law in comparative context: Differences and similarities of patent law in the European Union, the United States and China

“…69 Despite the promise of unification embedded in the system's name, the unitary patent system only applies to some EU Member States, thus excluding European countries within the European patent system outside of the EU, most notably the UK. 70 Moreover, some of the participating EU Member States have yet to ratify the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) and some have not even signed it, creating uncertainty regarding the exact territorial coverage of unitary patents filed at different times. 71 All in all, at this point, amidst the uncertainty of future developments, it is safe to say that the EU unitary patent system alongside the UPC will further enrich as well as complicate patenting in the EU.…”

The social function of intellectual property and government intervention in mitigating the pandemic: A perspective from Indonesia

“…136 For this reason, the government must maximize policies derived from the protective articles of TRIPS to anticipate the negative impacts arising from the protection of drug patents in the public health sector, by strategically implementing TRIPs Waiver in the terms of limitations exceptions of patent protection, for example, government use and compulsory license. 137,138 In addition to the cooperative policy that is currently being carried out by the Indonesian government to ensure the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, 139,140 the government has also prepared policies related to IPR. This policy is prepared to anticipate when pharmaceutical companies that are inventors of medicines and or vaccines for COVID-19 have succeeded in obtaining patents.…”