By Susan Decker andMalathi Nayak
Medical device makers and scientists around the world are waiving their intellectual property rights to encourage companies to restore depleted stockpiles of emergency equipment and develop new tests and treatments for the Covid-19 pandemic.
But it might not be enough.
Some researchers and lawmakers are calling on President Donald Trump to follow the lead of Germany and Israel in restricting patent rights for work on coronavirus treatments.
“When the lives of a significant population of a country are at stake, it is the inherent sovereign right of a government to override private property rights to protect the lives and health of its citizens,” said Fred Abbott, a Florida State University professor who’s advised the World Health Organization and United Nations on patents and drugs.
Trump has asked companies to start producing ventilators and respirators, but his administration has stopped short of taking steps that would give some level of protection from patent lawsuits.
“Everything has to be on the table,” said Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat. “The goal here is not to protect a patent. The goal is to get the supplies to people who need them.”
She helped draft a letter seeking a promise from the administration that no exclusive licenses will be granted to government-funded research into the coronavirus.
One option, Abbott said, would be for the administration or Congress to make clear that anyone making products to fight coronavirus — whether it’s drugs, medical equipment or protective gear — is covered by a law that gives the federal government the right to issue a “compulsory license” for any patented invention.
