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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…
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…
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…
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…
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 …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Webinar: Responding to COVID and Safeguarding Innovation in Brazil
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…
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…