Access and Benefit-Sharing

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has opened four consultations inviting stakeholder input on the development of the new Multilateral Mechanism on Benefit-Sharing (MLM) for Digital Sequence Information (DSI), including the establishment of the global benefit-sharing fund known as “The Cali Fund.”  

Companies are encouraged to

Continue Reading Just Weeks After COP16: CBD Secretariat Launches Stakeholder Consultations for the Operationalization of the DSI Mechanism. How Should Companies Engage?

Photo: View from the business delegation to the negotiations in Montreal, of which Covington were part.

On August 16th, 2024, in Montreal, Canada, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (“CBD”) agreed on the draft text (“Draft decision”) for the operationalization of the Global

Continue Reading Soon a new global tax on products developed from “digital information” from biological materials? 5 key takeaways for companies from recent UN negotiations

Today, the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) finished the preparatory session for the draft International Legal Instrument Relating to Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources (the “Instrument”), which will be discussed and adopted at a diplomatic conference in 2024.

At the

Continue Reading WIPO proposes new Patent Disclosure obligations on Genetic Resources: What impact for companies?

By May 2024, the 194 countries of the World Health Organization (“WHO”) aim to finalize negotiations on a new international treaty on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (“Pandemic Accord”).  At the center of the negotiations is the contentious issue of Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (“P-ABS

Continue Reading Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (P-ABS) under the draft WHO Pandemic Treaty: Why Many Vaccine, Therapeutic, and Diagnostic Companies will be in Scope