Members of the European Parliament have backed a joint proposal by India and South Africa for waiver on intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccine patents.
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Caught in a tangled web of vaccine nationalism 04 Feb 2021 / 15:15 H. Lucy Y. Powderly (R) receives a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine from sergeant Julia Benson (L) of the Illinois Army National Guard at a vaccination center established at the Triton College in River Grove, Illinois, on February 3, 2021. The site is the second large-scale vaccination center in Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago. More than 4,000 vaccines are expected to be given at that location on a weekly basis. / AFP / KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI
“OH what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive”. Walter Scott’s lines, already over two centuries old, nicely sum up how pursuit of national advantage and private gain have undermined the public interest and the common good.
Vitor Palmela Fidalgo
After some uncertainty due to the covid-19 pandemic, the first Angolan IP Congress is now confirmed to take place both physically and online on 23 and 24 April 2021. It will be backed by the new Angolan Intellectual Law Association (AADI) – located in Angola s Catholic University – and aims to teach attendees about the Angolan Industrial Property Law, with a particular focus on trademarks.
The theme of the conference is ‘the protection of industrial property and copyright as a source of attraction for investment and the generation of economic and social development’.
With regard to trademarks, there will be debates on:
WHO: We need to change that distribution pattern very quickly
The WTO talks are taking place as some wealthy countries face criticism for cornering billions of COVID shots many times the size of their populations while leaving poor countries struggling for supplies. Experts say the global scramble for vaccines, or vaccine nationalism, risks prolonging the pandemic. We have to recognize that this virus knows no boundaries, it travels around the globe and the response to it should also be global. It should be based on international solidarity, said Ellen t Hoen, the director of Medicines Law & Policy a nonprofit campaigning for greater access to medicines.