In May, the AIPPI (International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property) published a ten-item position on the waiver of certain TRIPS provisions for the prevention, containment, and treatment of Covid-19, as has been proposed by some countries within the WTO scope. In the document, in which it “shares the concerns raised by the waiver proponents and co-sponsors”, the entity points to the WTO as the appropriate forum for said debate. It also reaffirms the TRIPS Agreement, “often described as one of the three ‘pillars’ of the WTO” in establishing minimum standards for the protection of intellectual property.
In the document, AIPPI ensures that “intellectual property rights should not be viewed a priori by any WTO member as a barrier to the development, manufacturing, distribution, and provision of supplies and services of any kind” and that, on the contrary, the “TRIPS Agreement is to be part of the wider national and international effort to address public health problems”.
