JOINT STATEMENT ON THE WTO's DECISION

On June 23, AIPLA, along with the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), Licensing Executives Society International (LESI), Licensing Executives Society USA & Canada, and the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA) issued a joint statement on the World Trade Organization's (WTO) decision regarding the proposed TRIPs waiver.

Our organizations are very disappointed by the WTO’s decision to change the IP framework associated with COVID-19 vaccines. The existing IP framework has incentivized the innovation the world has used to combat this pandemic. We should be supporting, not undermining, that framework.

There is no evidence to support this change. Instead, the evidence establishes that there is not a vaccine supply problem.
A stable and predictable IP framework is crucial to investors, inventors, and others who take the necessary risks to bring needed technology innovations to the marketplace.

The WTO decision undermines this stability and predictability — and the very incentives that have produced the groundbreaking developments in vaccines, medicines, and other tools to combat the current pandemic.