SAVE OUR IP!
The Biden administration is quietly but aggressively working to undermine American companies and shift valuable, life-saving technology to countries like China.
Left unchecked, the Biden administration could unilaterally waive Intellectual Property rights from vaccine makers to hand them over to countries that are very much willing to steal American innovation.
The Biden Administration is working so secretly that it is failing to work with Congress, as it is required to do by law. That’s why a bipartisan group of U.S. senators is raising the alarm — and now we need your help to protect innovation in medicine.
Read Our International Coalition Letter
A group of Republican Senators also recently sent a letter to Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador María Pagán, urging her to reject the proposal before the World Trade Organization (WTO) to undermine intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines.
This letter was signed by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).
Read Our Op-Ed in Forbes
As Lorenzo Montanari, Executive Director of Property Rights Alliance, has explained in-depth in Forbes:
IP rights are explicitly protected in the Constitution
The Founding Fathers recognized the importance of intellectual property rights in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution: “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Strong IP rights are vital because they turn new ideas into tangible goods and services that improve the quality of life for Americans by creating high-paying jobs and increasing economic growth.
Without IP rights, medical innovators will have no incentive to create new treatments and cures as they will have no way to recoup the investments they made in developing new medicines. Patent exclusivity for medicines has been deliberately legislated to ensure that creativity, innovation, and medical growth are protected.
Because of strong IP protections, the U.S. is a world leader when it comes to medical innovation
According to research by the Galen Institute, 290 new medical substances were launched worldwide between 2011 and 2018. The U.S. had access to 90 percent of these cures, a rate far greater than comparable foreign countries. By comparison, the United Kingdom had access to 60 percent of medicines, Japan had 50 percent, and Canada had just 44 percent.
Strong IP for medicines supports millions of American jobs
Nationwide, the pharmaceutical industry directly or indirectly accounts for over four million jobs across the U.S and in every state, according to research by TEconomy Partners, LLC. This includes 800,000 direct jobs, 1.4 million indirect jobs, and 1.8 million induced jobs, which include retail and service jobs that are supported by spending from pharmaceutical workers and suppliers. The average annual wage of a pharmaceutical worker in 2017 was $126,587, which is more than double the average private sector wage of $60,000.
If the Biden Administration refuses to reverse its problematic position, it should at least be transparent about its negotiations and provide necessary information to Congress, as is their duty. ATR applauds the bipartisan group of Senators for urging that the Administration be transparent and live up to their constitutional obligations.
News
Senators Send Letter to USTR Urging Against COVID-19 IP Waiver
A group of Republican Senators sent a letter to Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador María Pagán, urging her to reject the proposal before the World Trade Organization (WTO) to undermine intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines. This letter was signed by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Thom…
News
ATR Releases Coalition Letter Opposing World Trade Organization COVID-19 IP Waiver
In a letter to the Biden administration, Americans for Tax Reform and 40 other conservative, free market, and libertarian groups and activists expressed opposition to the proposal before the World Trade Organization (WTO) to undermine intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines. Click here to read the full letter. The United States is a world…
Updates
Tai Dodges Concerns About TRIPS Waiver
At two congressional hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai dodged questions from numerous members of Congress concerned about the Biden administration’s proposed Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver for COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Tai was summoned to the Senate Committee…
News
Biden’s Undermining Of U.S. Intellectual Property Rights Is Dangerous And Will Hurt Pandemic Response
In an abrupt and unprecedented move, the Biden administration plans to strip intellectual property rights from American vaccine manufacturers. The administration completely reframed the debate on the pro IP waiver, originally petitioned last fall, by South Africa and India to the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights…
Updates
Bipartisan Group of Senators Call on USTR to Improve Transparency in Trade Negotiations
A bipartisan group of Senators are calling on the Biden administration to improve transparency and consultation with Congress on pending trade negotiations in light of the U.S. Trade Representatives (USTR) failure to consult with Congress while pushing an agreement to erode intellectual property rights at the World Trade Organization. The …
News
Stop Tripping Over TRIPS
The petition by South Africa and India at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to waive most of the protections in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement was all but dead. It failed in October, December, January, March, and May. Then, after the Biden Administration expressed in the…
News
U.S. SUPPORT OF TRIPS WAIVER UNDERMINES EFFORT TO FIGHT COVID-19
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 6, 2021 WASHINGTON: Property Rights Alliance urgently calls on the Biden-Harris Administration to reverse its support of the vaccine waiver at the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council led by South Africa and India. PRA stresses now more than ever that the intellectual property…
Updates
Biden Admin Surrenders on American IP Rights
The Biden administration is backing a global effort to suspend all intellectual property (IP) rights for COVID-19 innovations, a move that would do little to help end the pandemic but would undermine U.S. medical innovation, jobs, and the Constitution. Strong IP protections have facilitated the creation of several highly…
Updates
USTR Jabbed for Blocking Congress’s Access to TRIPS Waiver Negotiations
At a pair of congressional hearings last month, legislators criticized U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai for her continued efforts to negotiate away American intellectual property rights without consulting Congress. The annual hearings, hosted by the House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, centered on the Biden administration’s 2022…
Resources
Factsheet: TRIPS Waiver Fast Facts
Property Rights Alliance and our alliance partners have warned repeatedly (a few samples here, here, here, here, and here) that a waiver of intellectual property rights at the World Trade Organization is a distraction from getting as many vaccines into the arms of people around the world in the shortest amount…
News
Global Coalition Joins PRA in Opposing a TRIPS Waiver for COVID-19 Vaccines
WASHINGTON, DC –– 3/8/2022 –– On Monday the Property Rights Alliance (PRA), along with 29 partner organizations from 15 countries around the globe, sent a letter to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and TRIPS Council Chair Ambassador Dagfinn Sørli strongly opposing the revocation of intellectual property rights for the producers of vaccines and…
Resources
Updates
International Consensus: Intellectual Property Protections Are Not a Barrier to Vaccine Distribution
On Tuesday, the Property Rights Alliance held a webinar titled “Responding to the TRIPS Waiver: Global Voices on Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Access to Vaccines.” This discussion highlighted the debate on the protection or suspension of IP rights on COVID-19 vaccines for their accelerated production and distribution. Proponents argue that the…
Updates
Biden’s Global Innovation Rights Giveaway Poisons New Medical Breakthroughs
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced in May that the United States would be supporting efforts by other countries to revoke the intellectual property rights of innovators that developed novel COVID-19 vaccines and other medical technologies. Several countries have already signed on to support a proposal led by India and…
Resources