A new initiative, the Open COVID Pledge, has been launched to urge universities and companies to free up intellectual property to spur development of treatments and cures for COVID-19, now spreading rapidly throughout the world. Companies, institutions, and universities are being urged to give free licenses to their patents, copyrights, and certain other property rights to anyone developing technologies for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of COVID-19. Licenses would last until a year after the World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus pandemic to be over. “This is not a permanent grant of rights, but a temporary measure to make sure that we aren’t restricting research, testing, or treatment during the pandemic,” explains Mark Lemley, (BA ’88), William H. Neukom Professor of Law and director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology, a founding member of the initiative.

“A group of scientists and lawyers were concerned that intellectual property rights, which are designed to drive innovation, might end up restricting it by discouraging researchers from working on technologies that others might own,” says Lemley, who adds that there is a model license agreement on the Open COVID website. “We also wanted to make sure that everyone has access to the technology needed to mass-produce masks, ventilators, and testing kits.” For more information, visit https://opencovidpledge.org/. SL