In Summary: WIPO’s COVID-19 Response Package
The package will benefit over 45 members states, with projects including:
What is the WIPO COVID-19 Response Package?
The COVID-19 Response Package is a 3 million CHF commitment from WIPO to support member states in ensuring that IP is used as a tool to strengthen economies, support communities and drive sustainable recovery post-pandemic.
Coordinated by the WIPO COVID-19 Focal Point, Mr. Sherif Saadallah, Executive Director of the WIPO Academy, and the cross-organizational WIPO COVID-19 Task Force, projects have been delivered upon member states’ request and to-date include:
- Bilateral technical assistance including policy and legislative advice and projects relating to the use of IP to address specific needs of countries, sectors and communities;
- Access to resources and capacity building at the intersection of IP, health and trade including through the WHO-WIPO-WTO trilateral cooperation and COVID-19 Technical Assistance Platform;
- Practical skills-building and training opportunities through the WIPO Academy and its IP Training Institutions (IPTIs);
- Access to IP dispute resolution and contract negotiation services including through the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, particularly for the life sciences sector; and
- Capacity building related to innovation and technology transfer resources including new policy and decision making tools to respond to COVID-19 issues through WIPO Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) and other technology transfer structures.
- New knowledge resources, publications, guidance documents and training materials including the Patent Landscape Report on COVID-19 Related Vaccines and Therapeutics, IP and Traditional Knowledge Language Packs and studies on innovation determinants in the COVID-19 vaccine development and production ecosystem, among others.
The COVID-19 Response Package has provided opportunities to ensure targeted, agile and timely support to new communities and IP stakeholders, as well as projects with new partners particularly in developing and least-developed countries (LDCs), and in key domestic sectors such as technology, tourism, videogames and creative industries.
Spotlight on COVID-19 Response Package projects
The WIPO Academy and the Costa Rican Academy of Intellectual Property, a WIPO supported Intellectual Property Training Institution (IPTI), delivered an IP skills-building training program for local entrepreneurs from Limón, a region on the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica in November 2022. One of the beneficiaries of the training program, Ada Yorleny Thorpe Thomas, a local entrepreneur who started her food business during the pandemic was inspired to register her trademark after learning about the economic benefits that result from formalizing and protecting her business brand. She was the first person from Limón to register a trademark, which is a historical achievement for her region and country.
WIPO and Harvard Law School have teamed up to offer “PatentX”, a specialized online course on patent law and global public health. The course examines the complex relationships between IP and public health in stimulating the production and distribution of vaccines and medicines, particularly in pandemic scenarios. The first edition of the course ran during the first half of 2023 and had 500 participants, with a groundbreaking 95.5% pass rate.
A special edition of the WIPO – South Africa Summer School was offered in 2022 focused on IP and public health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemic preparedness. A total of 114 participants from 14 countries attended the summer school, and 10 scholarships were offered to South African experts working in the field of IP and public health.
To help those working on technology transfer in the life sciences, mainly in the public and non-profit research sectors, WIPO in collaboration with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) organized the first Regional Conference in Support of Accelerated Life Sciences Innovation, in Mexico City from May 9 to 12, 2023. The Conference is part of the efforts to support the development of innovation ecosystems and skills related to IP management and technology transfer relevant to health technologies.