Intellectual Property

May 17, 2021

Fatou Ndiaye

Blog Post 2020 Election/TransitionIntellectual PropertyPharma

Revolver Spotlight: Kevin Rhodes

When choosing the next PTO director, the Biden administration should rule out those who have a history of prioritizing profits and corporate interests over public health and safety. One such individual is Kevin Rhodes, an ally of Big Pharma who has vigorously defended efforts to keep drug prices high. His current employer, 3M, has abused its monopoly on the military earplug market to sell overpriced and faulty products to veterans. This should be immediately disqualifying for any future PTO director. Here are a few of the most alarming aspects of Kevin Rhodes’s career:

April 16, 2021

Fatou Ndiaye Zena Wolf

Blog Post CoronavirusExecutive BranchIntellectual PropertyRevolving Door

The Brother Of A Pharma Lobbyist Advises Biden As He Weighs Vaccine IP Waiver

Despite pushback from progressives, Ricchetti has continued to hold a powerful advisory position in the Biden White House. His background in corporate lobbying and strong ties to the pharmaceutical industry are deeply troubling signs as the Biden Administration faces enormously consequential decisions about how to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

April 15, 2021

Timi Iwayemi

Blog Post Foreign PolicyIntellectual Property

Why Is Politico's Ryan Heath Carrying Water For Big Pharma Monopolies?

The world is currently at an inflection point – Western leaders can choose to continue blocking the TRIPS waiver and lock in a cycle of dependence or empower poorer countries to develop generic vaccines and build infrastructure that will safely put the pandemic behind us. Critiques of the TRIPS waiver claim that most poor countries lack the infrastructure to carry out vaccine operations – a paternalistic view that suggests that manufacturing capacity, supply chain management, and logistics are static in nature. The sooner we act, the more time poorer countries have to begin mobilizing resources needed to make generic vaccine development possible.

April 09, 2021

Eleanor Eagan Timi Iwayemi

Blog Post Department of CommerceIntellectual Property

Why You Should Care Who Leads the Patent and Trademark Office

As pressure mounts on the United States government to support waiving intellectual property (IP) protections on the COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization, progressives are closely monitoring the Biden administration’s appointments to agencies that impact intellectual property matters such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

March 01, 2021

Press Release CoronavirusExecutive BranchForeign PolicyIntellectual PropertyJeff Zients

Zients Must Open-Source Vaccines To Prove Independence And Seriousness

As the United States approaches a full year of COVID-19-induced lockdowns, the Revolving Door Project and the Center for Economic and Policy Research called on the White House’s COVID-19 task force director Jeffrey Zients to demand that Pfizer, Moderna, and other American pharmaceutical firms open-source their COVID-19 vaccines.