Issa, Jordan Lead Challenge to Biden Administration of Intellectual Property

Washington – Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, joined Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan in sending a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai regarding the Biden Administration’s disastrous waiver of certain portions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Rep. Issa was joined by all of his GOP subcommittee colleagues.

“The Biden White House’s TRIPS waiver sends an unmistakable signal that the medical innovations of our greatest minds can, ultimately, be taken by the government from their rightful owners,” said Rep. Issa. “The White House still has the opportunity to ensure strong IP protections around the world so that people everywhere may enjoy the benefits of the full range of treatments and cures that are a direct result of our system of intellectual property rights.”

Writing in Forbes, Pacific Research Institute President Sally Pipes wrote, “In 2022, the WTO’s member nations agreed to a TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines. The argument was that developing countries lacked easy access to vaccines. They sought the ability to manufacture them cheaply to dispense to their own populations. But they needed the WTO’s member nations to give them permission to ignore the IP protections undergirding those vaccines. Unfortunately, that 2022 vaccine waiver opened the door to scrapping IP rights in other instances.”

The letter also stated: “We urge the Administration to lead the international community in focusing instead on the real logistical obstacles faced by developing countries in accessing treatments, which are similar to the obstacles described in our May 2021 letter with respect to vaccines and which do not require waiving IP rights to overcome. Such a course would make real contributions to global public health while preserving the incentives for innovators to develop the next generation of medicines and technologies that will protect us in future pandemics.”

Darrell Issa is the Representative of California’s 48th Congressional District. The District encompasses the central and eastern parts of San Diego County and a portion of Riverside County, including the communities of Fallbrook, Valley Center, Ramona, Escondido, Santee, Lakeside, Poway, Temecula, Murrieta, and the mountain and desert areas of the San Diego-Imperial County line. Issa served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2011-2015.