IP Protections Play ‘Critical Role’ Defeating COVID-19, Say Chamber, Sister Groups

Effective intellectual property protections “enabled the rapid private sector response to the pandemic,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and sister business groups in Canada, France, Germany, South Korea and the U.K. wrote “world leaders” Thursday. “These protections will be essential to support the rapid manufacturing and distribution of safe and effective treatments and vaccines when they are approved,” said the groups. “Our associations urge you to recognize the critical role effective intellectual property protections have played and will play in defeating the virus, in helping to drive economic recovery, and in enabling the private sector to make sustainable contributions to solving this crisis.” They also urged leaders to “rally the world” to urgently remove “unnecessary supply chain barriers that are hindering the efficient distribution of COVID-19 technologies.”