Patent Rights and Intellectual Property Problems

Dringende Unterstützungsbitte

Bitte helfen Sie bei der zeitweisen Aufhebung von Corona-Patentrechten.

Nach dem Schwenk der USA, der Gates Stiftung, der APEC Entscheidung vom 5.6., der heutigen Ankündigung Frankreichs, die heutige Resolution des EU-Parlaments, zustandegekommen mit starker Unterstützung von S&D/SPD Abgeordneten … ist Deutschland einer der letzten großen Blockierer vor dem Beginn konkreter Verhandlungen. Würde es gelingen, die SPD auch in Deutschland dazu zu bringen, könnte dies den Weg freimachen, denn es gibt hier einen Präzedenzfall: Die Verabschiedung der Country-by-Country Berichterstattung in der EU wurde auch erst möglich, nachdem sich die Bundesregierung, in der sich Union und SPD nicht einigen konnten, der Stimme enthielt.

Aus diesem Grund bitte ich herzlich: Schreiben Sie an Schlüsselfiguren der deutschen Sozialdemokratie eine Email. Hier habe ich einige Textblöcke vorbereitet

Urgent Action Appeal

Please help to move Germany towards the support of a temporary waiver of COVID 19 related patents.

Since the USA, the Gates Foundation the APEC countries and France moved from resisting the patent waiver to supporting the start of text-based negotiations and today the EU Parliament, “under S&D leadership”, supported the “Resolution on meeting the global COVID-19 challenge: effects of the waiver of the WTO TRIPS Agreement…”, Germany is left to be the most influential among a dwindling number of opposing nations. If we succeed to move also Social Democrats in Germany to support the waiver, it could pave the way, since there is a precedence: When the coalition government disagreed about the EUs initiative towards public Country-by-Country Reporting, it resulted in Germanys abstention in the decisive vote.

Therefore please write to key-figures of the German Social Democrats an Email. Here I provide some textblocks for that.

What is it about?

As vaccination programs against Covid-19 are rolled out in developed countries, it is increasingly obvious that wealthy countries secure most of the vaccines for their own population while little is left for poor countries.

Pope Francis said to the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2021: "If anyone should be given preference, let it be the poorest, the most vulnerable, those who so often experience discrimination because they have neither power nor economic resources."

Similarly, the incoming Secretary-General to the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warns on 16 February 2021 of “vaccine nationalism” and reiterated: “No one is safe until everyone is safe.”

It is the WTO where a simple and quick solution for all could be found. India and South Africa tabled a proposal pointing to the following: Article IX of the WTO provides for temporarily waive patent rights on information relevant to the production of vaccines in “exceptional circumstances” and, if consensus among the WTO member states cannot be found, the same article permits action under a three-quarter majority. Such a temporary waiver and adequate technical and financial support for adjusting production lines worldwide could lower the costs and increase the availability of vaccines enormously. Already, more than half of the WTO member states support this option.

Little surprising, the very states securing vaccines for their own population are those obstructing this approach. This needs to change, because the Covid-19 pandemic indeed is over only, when the virus is pushed back globally.

If you are interested in the discussion and relevant arguments of the ongoing debate, please consult this FactSheet.

If you want to assist us, please sign this Open Letter to the German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel, and circulate it widely among your relatives and friends. Thank you!

The issue finds support with

This is a joint initiative of the Jesuitenmission Deutschland, Jesuitenmission Österreich and the Medical Mission Institute Würzburg.