Introductory Remarks by Rochelle Dreyfuss

Abstract

I would like to thank the American Society of International Law for asking me to convene the Fifth Annual Detlev F. Vagts Roundtable on Transnational Law. When I was chosen back in 2019, I was very pleased to learn that the Society and the Vagts family were interested in hearing about international intellectual property law. As it has turned out, that choice was prescient. Given the current pressure to find and rapidly distribute treatments and vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, intellectual property rights have become a major focus of international concern. On the one hand, these rights encourage innovation. However exclusivity can also raise costs and pose obstacles to widespread distribution of the fruits of technological progress.