Intel and Mozilla give access to intellectual property to fight corona

Intel and Mozilla say they are making their intellectual property available to scientists in their efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic. To this end, the companies have joined the Open Covid Pledge, an initiative of lawyers and scientists.

An explanation of the Open Covid Pledge, signed by Intel, Mozilla and the Creative Commons organization among others, states that it is now very important and morally right to be able to use every available tool to develop technologies on a large scale, without hindrances. That means the participating parties pledge to make their intellectual property available for free to end the pandemic and minimize the impact of the disease. These may include patents, copyrights and other rights that would otherwise stand in the way of developing technologies to diagnose, prevent or treat Covid-19. This includes diagnostics, vaccines, therapies and medical equipment.

Under the associated license, researchers and technicians who use the intellectual property of a participating company in the context of combating the pandemic are not at risk of lawsuits or legal problems. The so-called Open Covid License is retroactively valid from December 1, 2019, until one year after the World Health Organization officially declares that the Covid-19 pandemic has ended. This date of December 1, 2019 has been specifically chosen as the starting point to also recognize the work at the start of the crisis.

Mark Lemley, a Stanford University professor and co-founder of the Open Covid Pledge, acknowledges that participating companies have the right to revoke their intellectual property and restrict its use when things return to normal and the pandemic is over. He expresses the hope that these licensing companies will then continue to work with other companies that have made use of the rights, for example by drawing up commercially reasonable license terms.