""What do you think, is there any possibility of a future where only COVID-19 related patent rights are opened on a special international basis, and a COVID-19 joint front is developed?"

In the column, I thought that the possibility of

Trips Article 31, "Compulsory License" or Article 93 of the Patent Law, "Ruling on the Establishment of a Non-exclusive License in the Public Interest.

is coming finally.

However, the "temporary abandonment" of the new coronavirus patent in the recent news seems to be different from the "license" story above.

Today, I would like to talk a little bit about "abandonment of patent rights".

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It may not seem strange to many people, but the phrase in the news, "temporary abandonment of patent rights," is a strange term.

"What is a "'temporary' abandonment" of patent rights, anyway?"

I believe that this "temporary abandonment" is a misnomer because once a patent right is abandoned, it cannot be regained.

However, patent rights are also effective in each country based on the territorial principle (meaning that they are effective only within the territory and territorial waters of the country).

Therefore, "abandonment of patent rights" can be done on a country-by-country basis.

For example, it is possible to " abandon patent rights only to poor countries."

It is possible -- but there is nothing that can be done when patent rights are abandoned in poor countries that do not have pharmaceutical manufacturing plants or equipment.

This is because the country does not have the means to produce the vaccine.

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Anyway, I don't really understand this "abandonment of patent rights for the Corona vaccine".

I'll have to look it up again and come back.

(To be continued)