On Monday afternoon, 4 May 2026, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered the following opening statement at the 36th session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property.
For development, measures to address access to patented technologies are important, and have been subject to several multilateral negotiations at the WTO, the WHO, and other UN bodies.
One topic that has received enormous attention is the quantitative restrictions on exports under a compulsory license in some national laws: the non-predominant share of production issue. This has the practical effect of making it difficult for both importing and exporting countries, and is very important as regards medical technologies. That said there are three areas where exports need not be limited as to the percent of output. They include: 1) compulsory licenses to remedy anticompetitive practices, 2) authorizations under the TRIPS three step test, and 3) perhaps most underappreciated, exports authorized by statute or by a court as a limitation on remedies, under Part III of the TRIPS Agreement. Ironically, these options have been used more frequently by high-income countries, suggesting some failures in technical assistance to developing countries.
The Secretariat could convene an expert panel to address the experience of states in permitting the non-voluntary use of patents for export purposes, including through the three options just mentioned.
The Committee should also ask for a presentation or panel on progress on the development incentive systems that de-link intellectual property rewards from the temporary legal monopoly. This could include an update of the WIPO report, CDIP/14/INF/12, Alternatives to the Patent System that are used to Support R&D Efforts, Including both Push and Pull Mechanisms, with a Special Focus on Innovation-Inducement Prizes and Open Source Development Models.