The South Centre – Max Planck Global Forum on IP, Innovation and Access to Medicines MPI, Munich, 9-10 December 2019

Abstract

On 9-10 December 2019, the South Centre and the Max Planck Institute (the MPI) for Innovation and Competition jointly organised a ‘Global Forum on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Access to Medicines’ (the Forum), in Munich, Germany. The Forum brought together leading academic figures from around the world and policymakers from Latin America, Africa and Asia to examine how intellectual property policy and law is evolving to incorporate public health considerations. The invited policymakers were government officials from ministries of foreign affairs, health and trade, staff from intellectual property offices, and judges. Discussions centred on the policy choices available to governments and recent experiences. The Forum served to support evidence-based policymaking and the creation of intellectual property regimes in developing countries that are supportive of the goals of public health, in particular the promoting of access to healthcare for all. The Forum made possible dialogue on the use of flexibilities in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), such as compulsory licensing, exceptions to patentability, the use of rigorous patentability criteria, patent oppositions and parallel imports. The Forum also facilitated discussion on IP-related aspects of emerging gene and cell therapies, the interface between IP and regulations on the access and use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, the use of competition law to enhance access to medicines, IP rules in free trade agreements and models for research and development (R&D).