e-TRIPS Gateway (Beta)

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Walter Werner

United States of America

13   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST: PROMOTING PUBLIC HEALTH THROUGH COMPETITION LAW AND POLICY

584.   The United States notes the desire of some Members to introduce discussion of competition law and policy before the TRIPS Council, and recalls the June 2018 intervention of the United States on this subject matter. 585.   The United States believes that the intellectual property laws and the antitrust laws share the common purpose of promoting innovation and enhancing consumer welfare, but also that intellectual property and competition are distinct disciplines implemented and overseen by different administrative authorities. Given that relatively few TRIPS Council delegates can be expected to have deep expertise both in intellectual property and competition law and policy, the TRIPS Council is not the ideal venue to hold the discussions proposed under this agenda item. 586.   Work by non-experts could easily lead to a misapplication of competition law in the context of intellectual property rights. 587.   In the words of a leading United States competition law enforcement official, "antitrust enforcers should…strive to eliminate as much as possible the unnecessary uncertainties for innovators and creators in their ability to exploit their intellectual property rights, as those uncertainties can also reduce incentives for innovation." 588.   I would also like to remind the Council that the UN Secretary General's High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines Report includes the following statement from one panellist: "without innovation, there will be no new tools for public health needs, new pandemics, and AMR. There are already precious few diagnostics, vaccines, and medicines that can address these menaces and limited sources to support research into basic biology that underpins them. It would be unwise to set into motion activities or policies that further choke innovation, placing large populations at risk and contradicting the core principles under which the HLP was convened." 589.   The United States references but will not otherwise repeat its June 2018 intervention on this agenda item. We continue to express our reservations regarding discussion of this subject matter in this forum.

The representatives of South Africa, Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, the United States of America, Japan, the European Union and the WHO took the floor.

53.   The Chair said that the item "Intellectual Property and the Public Interest: Promoting Public Health Through Competition Law and Policy" had been added to the agenda at the request of the Delegation of South Africa. It had been co-sponsored by Brazil and India since the circulation of the revised draft agenda. The co-sponsors had also submitted a communication on this topic (circulated in document IP/C/W/649 and addenda), which included questions to guide the discussion.
54.   The representatives of South Africa, Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, the United States of America, Japan, the European Union and the WHO took the floor.

IP/C/M/90, IP/C/M/90/Add.1