On 11 June 2021 EPLAW hosted a succesful webinar for its members on the hot topic of Covid-19 vaccines and patents. After an introduction by Klaus Haft (Hoyng ROKH Monegier, DE), various speakers discussed the topic from different angles. Key question was whether a patent waiver and/or compulsory license will be the solution to the problems of equal vacine access worldwide.

One of the statement made was that the real question is who is going to pay for the vaccines. In stead of seeking compulsory licenses and/or a patent waiver, plants should be built to produce the vaccines, which should be supplied at or below costs by countries to other countries.

The whole program consisted of:

The challenge and the proposed solution: IP waiver? – Penny Gilbert (Powell Gilbert, UK)
Compulsory licensing and other mechanisms – Thierry Calame (Lenz & Staehelin, CH)
Compulsory licensing and IP waiver – will they lead to victory? – Sir Robin Jacob (University College London, UK)
Shaping the IP landscape – could there be better alternatives? – Prof. Dr. Ansgar Ohly (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, DE)

[EPLAW webinars are held under the Chatham House Rule: anyone who comes to a meeting is free to use information from the discussion, but is not allowed to reveal who made any comment.]