UTJECAJ PANDEMIJE KORONAVIRUSA NA PATENT VAKCINE KROZ ZAHTJEV ZA IZUZEĆE PRIMJENE ODREDBI TRIPS-a
THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ON THE PATENT OF THE VACCINE THROUGH THE PROPOSAL FOR WAIVER FROM CERTAIN TRIPS PROVISIONS

Summary/Abstract: As an intellectual property right, a patent protects innovators and ensures their use of benefits of their labor and resources. On the other hand, intellectual property rights take into account public interest because the public has an interest and sometimes there is a need to use an invention. Thus, it is defined that a patent may be exempted from the holder and conferred to another person or company that will use the invention or will use the invention sufficiently to meet the needs of the community. At the international level, several conventions have been adopted defining conditions that must be met in order for an invention to be granted a patent. Provisions in the legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are compatible with criteria of patentability as prescribed in other countries legislations and international agreements. Although a patent primarily relates to technical solution, patent protection is also provided for inventions in the fields of biotechnology and includes invention of new drugs and vaccines. Coronavirus pandemic has led to a global health problem that has endangered many lives and caused a lot of deaths. In such a situation, the question arises whether the urgency of need to deliver vaccines to as wide a population as possible has led to the discovery of vaccines being considered as the public interest, which may require an exemption from the provisions. Such an exemption would allow an unlimited number of subjects to produce and place vaccines on the market. India and South Africa have used the possibility provided by the provisions of TRIPS and proposed to the World Trade Organization a waiver from certain provisions. However, meeting such requirement would only lead to partial solution to vaccine supply problem in the short term, while negative consequences for intellectual property rights would be possible.

• Details
• Contents