Implications on Access to COVID-19 Medicine and Beyond

13 June 2020 | 2:30 – 4:30 pm

The role of the patent office in keeping a healthy innovation system is indisputable. At times such as during a pandemic, it cannot be any more emphatic. A prudent patent office is important to ensure effective disclosure and thereby avoid informational asymmetry within the innovation environment. Its role is also important to make sure that development is not stalled due to bad or weak patents. Thus, the patent office plays a pivotal role in the development of a society and in maintaining the efficiency of the market. Ensuring its accountability is important to maintain its efficacy as a controller and ensuring that the developmental ends are met. In times of societal shocks, such as the pandemic we are facing today, it is important to discuss and weigh against the activities of the office and deduce its policy position, to ensure it is in accordance to the need of the hour. CVV-TWN Trust is venturing into this effort through a webinar on ‘Accountability of Patent Office: Implications on Access to COVID-19 Medicine and Beyond’.

Panel Introduction and Welcome: Nithin Kumar, Assistant Professor of Law, School of Ethics, Governance and Cultural Studies, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth — 5 mins.

Key Speakers

  • Achal Prabhala, Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow and Coordinator of Accessibsa project — 20 mins.
  • P. H. Kurian IAS (Rtd.), Chairman, Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Kerala (Former Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks) — 20 mins.
  • Prathibha Subramanian, Researcher, Third World Network (TWN), New Delhi — 20 mins.

Moderator: K. M. Gopakumar, Legal Advisor and Senior Researcher, Third World Network (TWN), New Delhi; and  Adjunct Professor of Law, School of Ethics, Governance and Cultural Studies, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Kerala.

Concluding Remarks: Sreenath Namboodiri, Assistant Professor of Law, School of Ethics, Governance and Cultural Studies, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth — 5 mins.

Register here: bit.ly/accountability-patent-office-webinar