Intellectual property norms in the polycrisis—(still) omnipresent, distracting, irrelevant?

Abstract

Twenty years since Professor Cornish asked whether IP is ‘omnipresent, distracting, irrelevant?’, this article revisits that question following recent times of instability, which have compounded the polycrisis the world is facing, whilst the 2030 deadline to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals looms closer and closer. This contribution argues that IP plays a critical role as one of multiple regulatory systems seeking solutions in the highly dynamic and insecure contexts of the climate emergency, uneven global development and pandemics, requiring timely and comprehensive normative development. However, over the last two decades there has been a glacial pace towards setting appropriate IP norms and states, policymakers and legislatures have to move beyond merely settling for a ‘more of the same’ approach. The ongoing World Health Organization’s Pandemic Accord negotiations present an opportunity to confirm IP’s relevance to combatting the polycrisis by setting effective norms and a technology transfer mechanism. It is concluded that missing this opportunity would render debates about IP no more than a deadly distraction.