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55 Cornell Int'l L.J. 61 (2022)
Patent Philanthropy

handle is hein.journals/cintl55 and id is 65 raw text is: Patent Philanthropy
Haochen Sunt
As in previous global public health crises, such as the HIV epidemic,
patents have presented a major obstacle to vaccine supply amid the devas-
tating COVID-19 pandemic. Compulsory licensing and intellectual prop-
erty waiver have been put forth as solutions. However, as this Article and
other studies reveal, neither proposal alone can address global vaccine ine-
quality with sufficient urgency. Nor would these measures significantly
improve the capacity of developing countries to produce medicines and
vaccines.
This Article proposes the establishment of a Patent Philanthropy Initi-
ative (PPI) to overcome the inadequacies of compulsory licensing and intel-
lectual property waiver and equip the global community with better
preparedness for future public health crises. The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) would be called upon to administer the PPI.
Pharmaceutical companies owning USPTO-granted medical patents would
be required to contribute 1% of their annual post-tax profits accrued from
their patented medicines to the PPI. Such financial contributions would
then be deployed by pharmaceutical companies to promote public health
in the United States and abroad through transferring knowledge, donating
medical products, constructing facilities, training professionals, and facili-
tating public health education.
This Article defends the validity of the PPI against concerns that it
would violate the TRIPS Agreement and the U.S. Constitution and discour-
age investment in medical innovation. It illustrates the PPI's economic and
social functions in improving the capacity of developing countries to pro-
duce pharmaceuticals, and its ethical function in prompting pharmaceuti-
cal companies to accept greater responsibility for the protection of public
health. These functions are discussed in the context of the COVID-19 pan-
demic and beyond.
Introduction  .....................................................  62
1.  Proposed  Solutions.......................................  67
A.  Compulsory  Licensing  ................................  67
B.  Intellectual Property  W aiver ...........................  71
C .  Sum m ary .............................................  78
II.  The  Creation  of the  PPI  ..................................  78
A.  Structure  of the  PPI  ...................................  79
1.  A ctions............................................  79
t Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law. I am grateful to
Rochelle Dreyfuss, Jeanne Fromer, Calvin Ho, Peter Lee, Madhavi Sunder, and
participants at Georgetown-HKU joint conference on Intellectual Property, COVID-19,
and the Next Pandemic for comments.
55 CORNELL INT'L L.J. 61 (2022)

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