Waiving IP Rights: The Wrong Path to the Right Goals

Daniel J. Staudt, current President of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), explains in this article that waiving intellectual property (IP) protections for COVID-19 vaccines will hinder—rather than further—three meritorious objectives of the current U.S. Presidential Administration: ending the pandemic as soon as possible, levelling the IP playing field with China, and pursuing a worker-centric trade policy. In addition, a full and frank discussion of the real challenges at hand must take place, in order to support the continued efforts of vaccine manufacturers to identify—and engage with—new potential partners with whom they can create more manufacturing capacity. Only through such discussions can the challenges of globally distributing high-quality vaccines be truly addressed.