The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into sharp relief the balance between the need for medical innovation and the need for public access to lifesaving medicines. In ordinary circumstances, the patent system seeks to provide such balance, by extending a time-limited monopoly in exchange for full disclosure of an invention.

This webinar provides an analysis of national government’s powers to make use of patented inventions during the present pandemic. Awareness of these provisions will be essential for those having intellectual property covering health-related technologies. We will examine the situation in three jurisdictions: Canada, where the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act (Bill C-13) received Royal Assent on March 25, 2020; the United Kingdom, where Government use of patented inventions is already part of the Patents Act; and South Africa, which has been very successful in bringing about pricing changes and increased distribution of medicines through use of an active citizenry, skillful interpretation of the Constitution.

Registration is essential, link here.