In today’s episode, Matt Prewitt engages in a thought-provoking dialogue with Tahir Amin, the Co-Founder and CEO of the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge (I-MAK). Together, they delve into the history of the patent and trademark systems – flaws and all, especially within the pharmaceutical realm. Tahir, drawing from his experience as a former intellectual property lawyer turned reform advocate, sheds light on how these systems have been manipulated by large corporations to prolong monopolies rather than foster invention. He proposes substantial reforms to address these systemic issues, advocating for a fundamental restructuring of the patent system. This insightful conversation highlights the complexities and challenges within the patent system and the quest for a more just and equitable approach to intellectual property.
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Tahir Amin LL.B., Dip.LP., is a founder and CEO of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK), a non-profit organisation working to address the structural power and inequities of the intellectual property (IP) system and how medicines are developed and distributed. He has over 25 years of experience in IP law, during which he has practised with two of the leading IP law firms in the United Kingdom and served as IP Counsel for multinational corporations. His work focuses on re-defining and re-shaping IP laws and the related global political economy to better serve the public interest and commons, by changing the structural power dynamics that allow economic and health inequities to persist. He is a former Harvard Medical School Fellow in the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, a TED and Echoing Green Fellow. He has served as legal advisor/consultant to many international and intergovernmental organisations, including the Medecines Sans Frontieres, the European Patent Office, World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on IP and unsustainable drug prices.
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Matt Prewitt (he/him) is a lawyer, technologist, and writer. He is the President of the RadicalxChange Foundation.
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Additional Credits:
- This episode was recorded and produced by Matt Prewitt.
This is a RadicalxChange Production.
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