Waiving From IP Rights In The Post-Covid Landscape

Since the pandemic seems to lose its impact and life is returning to normal, it may be a good time to look into the lessons learned so far from the Covid-19 pandemic and make necessary preparations against a possible new one. Indeed, pandemics have been an integral part of human history from the very beginning and diligently addressing the problems and their reasons faced during these times is quite important. However, most of the problems and, most importantly, the reasons for the problem of inequity of access to drugs/vaccines faced during the pandemic remain unsolved today, and the discussions are expected to continue in 2023.

The pandemic brought many discussions on IP rights from day one. As we all know, compulsory licensing was the first solution mechanism depended on by the governments as it was thought that the existing patent rights were the only obstacle to reaching a cure against Covid-19. Together, we experienced a journey where innovators and