PROS AND

CONS OF
PATENT
EXEMPTION
ON COVID 19
VACCINE

GROUP 6
 PATENT EXEMPTION ON COVID 19 VACCINE

Pros

 To remove any bottlenecks due to intellectual property protections.

 Ramp up the production and distribution of these vaccines in the rest of the world.

 Some immediate relief in terms of production and distribution could follow if more manufacturers in emerging
economies can join in and allocate resources to vaccine production immediately.
 In addition to waiving legal protections, manufacturers in emerging economies need to be supported with the technology
to actually produce the vaccines.
 Cons

 While opening up the possibility of production via the waiver may be a start, it is not a guarantee that enough
manufacturers will be found to take up production. This type of technology transfer may be best achieved via voluntary
licenses – in which originators provide manufacturers with the know-how to produce their vaccines.
 The trouble is in maintaining incentives for the future. After all, the reason we created patent protections in the first place
is to provide incentives via short-term monopoly profits so that firms and individuals can invest in innovation.
 If intellectual property protection is waived in the face of a public emergency, even as a one-off, will firms invest next time
there is a similar emergency?