TRIPS Decision on COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Waiver: Old Wine in a New Bottle?

As the latest international legislative achievement of TRIPS system in response to the global public health crisis, Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement adopted by the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference provides a legal basis for exempting members from the obligation of patent protection in relation to the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccine. Compared with the previous Doha Declaration system and Article 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement, the feasibility of the Ministerial Decision has been enhanced. However, in contrast to the TRIPS waiver proposal presented by India and South Africa and the subsequent discussion texts, both the scope and extent of the waiver in the Ministerial Decision have been considerably reduced. In the face of COVID-19, the approach of restricting intellectual property rights to address public health crises still faced challenges. However, given the difficulties and even crisis that have befallen the WTO, despite its inherent flaws, the decision makes a special contribution to the hope of sustaining a multilateral approach to public health crises.