118.   With respect to general comments on IP measures and COVID-19, intellectual property encourages innovation, incentivizes research and development, and manufacturing and distribution. These core features of intellectual property are necessary for the global community to find and develop treatments and cures for this deadly pandemic and to support economic recovery. 119.   We have the shared objective of helping to ensure the swift delivery of potential COVID19 therapeutics and vaccines around the globe. We believe that facilitating incentives for innovation and competition to develop, test, and produce safe and effective therapeutics and vaccines for the COVID-19 response, including by respecting intellectual property rights, and supporting industryled collaboration and voluntary knowledge sharing, will best achieve our shared objective. 120.   As we have stated in past discussions, IP is an important piece, but ultimately only one piece of addressing the issue of access to any potential therapy. We believe that IP has not been an obstacle in addressing the pandemic but rather has motivated global efforts to find treatments and cures. Limits to manufacturing capacities and supply chain issues, for example, are of much greater concern, especially for vaccines, given the need to provide access to the entire global population. We also must be concerned about the pandemic creating the opportunity for the increase of counterfeit COVID-19 pharmaceuticals, which are in and of themselves a threat to health and safety. In fact, the perspective that IP is a barrier to access to medicines is often voiced by governments that have significant barriers like taxes and tariffs in places that affect access. 121.   Where intellectual property rights exist, they can be licensed to companies around the world to scale up manufacturing. But if the time needed to get the required regulatory approvals is too long, and other barriers make the cost of products too high, the raw materials or labour needed are unavailable, or the market is flooded with counterfeit goods, then safe and effective access to needed treatments and equipment would be affected. 122.   With respect to United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) relief and initiatives due to COVID19 noted on the WTO website, and as noted in the June informal, the USPTO considers the effects of coronavirus to be an "extraordinary situation" for affected patent and trademark applicants, patentees, re-examination parties, and trademark owners. Therefore, it has announced certain relief in the form of extended deadlines, a new prioritized patent examination pilot programme for smaller applicants for COVID-19-related treatments, and resources offered to applicants as the COVID-19 situation continues. The USPTO also announced a COVID-19 prioritized trademark examination programme for certain medical products and services. 123.   For example, the USPTO launched the COVID-19 Response Resource Center to provide improved access to USPTO initiatives, programmes, and other helpful IP-related information regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, including links for consumers and healthcare workers to report COVID19related counterfeiting and fraud to various regulatory and law enforcement agencies, as well as tips for identifying counterfeit products. 124.   In addition, the USPTO has launched Patents 4 Partnerships, which is an IP marketplace platform for licensing opportunities for patent owners who want to license their IP rights to individuals and businesses who can turn those rights into solutions to address COVID-19. 125.   Further information on these measures can be found on the World Trade Organization webpage and World Intellectual Property Organization COVID19 IP Policy Tracker. 126.   The USPTO has also, with other US Government agencies, launched virtual capacity building programmes for customs, police, health regulators, prosecutors and judges focused on combatting counterfeit and fraudulent goods related to COVID-19. These goods include personal protective equipment (PPE), face masks, disinfectants, hand sanitizer, test kits and medicine. 127.   With respect to a workshop request, the situation of COVID-19 is rapidly changing. Before a decision can be made on this matter, it is important to consider the intended audience, the topics, the necessary expertise, and the objective of such a web-based meeting.