Special Lecture | Fostering Innovation, Production and Access to Pharmaceutical Products in Developing Countries by Prof. William W. Fisher | Organised by the DPIIT IPR Chair, NLSIU
Bangalore International Centre (BIC)
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Friday, September 27, 2024, 6:30 pm
This event is open to the public (RSVP is mandatory).
The DPIIT IPR Chair, National Law School of India University (NLSIU) is organising a special lecture to be delivered by Prof. William W. Fisher, WilmerHale Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Harvard Law School, on September 27, 2024. The talk is titled ‘Fostering Innovation, Production and Access to Pharmaceutical Products in Developing Countries’.
About the Speaker
Prof. William Fisher received his undergraduate degree (in American Studies) from Amherst College and his graduate degrees (J.D. and Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization) from Harvard University. Between 1982 and 1984, he served as a law clerk, first to Judge Harry T. Edwards of the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the US Supreme Court. Since 1984, he has taught at Harvard Law School, where he is now the Wilmer Hale Professor of Intellectual Property Law. In 2013, he created the CopyrightX online course, which is now offered annually to approximately 1000 students worldwide. In 2021 he and Professor Ruth Okediji created a similar course on Patent Law and Global Public Health, which is now offered semiannually in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization. He is currently the director of Global Access in Action, a non-profit organization, based at Harvard Law School, whose primary mission is improving public health in low and middle-income countries.
About the Lecture
Access to affordable, high-quality pharmaceutical products remains a critical challenge worldwide, particularly in the Global South. In this lecture, Prof. William Fisher will explore this pressing global health issue through historical insights, including responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. He will discuss potential initiatives that can foster local pharmaceutical innovation and production without requiring changes to the existing international intellectual property obligations. Through a set of legal and economic suggestions, the talk will explore ways to build sustainable infrastructure for local pharmaceutical industries in the Global South, while also addressing some of the key concerns of both proponents as well as critics of intellectual property rights.