As the COVID-19 virus permeates more corners of the world, lawyers anticipate an increase in litigation related to the scope of patents for treatments and vaccines.
Lawyers at Spain-based global firm ECIJA say the granting of a patent in favor of a specific organization could possibly undermine the development and wide-scale distribution of virus treatments. Barring intervention by an international health authority, countries may turn to other means to secure diagnostic tools, treatments and vaccines, they say.
