A woman receives a shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in Bhopal, India, on March 6. India, South Africa and other countries have proposed that the WTO exempt member countries from enforcing some patents and other intellectual property rights for a limited period to help countries contain Covid-19. Photo: EPA-EFE A woman receives a shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in Bhopal, India, on March 6. India, South Africa and other countries have proposed that the WTO exempt member countries from enforcing some patents and other intellectual property rights for a limited period to help countries contain Covid-19. Photo: EPA-EFE
A woman receives a shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in Bhopal, India, on March 6. India, South Africa and other countries have proposed that the WTO exempt member countries from enforcing some patents and other intellectual property rights for a limited period to help countries contain Covid-19. Photo: EPA-EFE
James Bacchus
Opinion

Opinion

The View by James Bacchus

How access to Covid-19 vaccines has highlighted the need for the WTO to rebalance its IP rules

  • There has long been tension in WTO intellectual property rules between exclusive ownership of new knowledge and the need for broad public access

James Bacchus
James Bacchus

Updated: 9:15am, 11 Mar, 2021

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A woman receives a shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in Bhopal, India, on March 6. India, South Africa and other countries have proposed that the WTO exempt member countries from enforcing some patents and other intellectual property rights for a limited period to help countries contain Covid-19. Photo: EPA-EFE A woman receives a shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in Bhopal, India, on March 6. India, South Africa and other countries have proposed that the WTO exempt member countries from enforcing some patents and other intellectual property rights for a limited period to help countries contain Covid-19. Photo: EPA-EFE
A woman receives a shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in Bhopal, India, on March 6. India, South Africa and other countries have proposed that the WTO exempt member countries from enforcing some patents and other intellectual property rights for a limited period to help countries contain Covid-19. Photo: EPA-EFE
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James Bacchus

James Bacchus

James Bacchus is senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute, professor at the University of Central Florida, and former chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization.