Kilbride says, “Intellectual property will be the foundation of every vaccine, treatment and cure we mobilize; it’s critical that we nurture those foundations, not uproot them.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, a coalition of some of the largest national business associations in the world – BDI (Germany), Canadian Chamber, CBI (UK), FKI (Republic of Korea), MEDEF (France) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - released an open letter to government leaders seeking partnership in removing obstacles to innovation access, maintaining strong intellectual property (IP) protections, and encouraging smart global collaboration through existing technology licensing models.
The letter outlines the business community’s instrumental contribution to the pandemic response, noting that businesses have assumed considerable individual risk by diverting resources to accelerate the development and deployment of critical medical equipment – including COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines – and creative and educational content people need. The letter emphasizes that this historic mobilization has been made possible through alliance building between the private sector and public sector and non-profit sector; but suggests there is more work to be done to unleash unbridled innovation.
“Now more than ever, we need intellectual property-driven innovation to win the fight against COVID-19,” said Patrick Kilbride. “Intellectual property will be the foundation of every vaccine, treatment and cure we mobilize; it’s critical that we nurture those foundations, not uproot them. That’s why we’re asking the governments to maintain their effective protection. The system to deliver the solutions we need is already in place. Instead of weakening that system or searching for new ones, governments should urgently focus their efforts on removing the barriers that are hindering the efficient approval and distribution of solutions.”
The letter identifies three main tenets governments should concentrate efforts on:The coalition contends that, together, these actions will “support the timely and effective development and delivery of innovative and creative solutions to this pandemic.”
Read the full Open Letter here.
Global Business Associations Urge Removal of Trade Barriers, Asks Global Governments to Maintain IP Protections and Support Partnerships to Discover and Deliver COVID-19 Solutions
Kilbride says, “Intellectual property will be the foundation of every vaccine, treatment and cure we mobilize; it’s critical that we nurture those foundations, not uproot them.”
