Frederick Abbott

Edward Ball Eminent Scholar Professor

Frederick Abbott is Edward Ball Eminent Scholar Professor of International Law at Florida State University College of Law. He has served as expert consultant for numerous international and regional organizations, governments and nongovernmental organizations, mainly in the fields of intellectual property, public health, trade, competition and sustainable development.

 

Professor Abbott is the author of many books and articles in the fields of international intellectual property rights law, public health, international economic law and international law. Recent books include International Intellectual Property in an Integrated World Economy, 5th ed. 2024 (with co-authors)(information below), Emerging Markets and the World Patent Order, ed. with Carlos M. Correa and Peter Drahos (2013)(information below) and Global Pharmaceutical Policy (2009) (with G. Dukes). He served as a member of the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) to the High Level Panel on Access to Medicines appointed by the UN Secretary General in late 2015.

 

He is Co-Chair of the Committee on Global Health Law of the International Law Association, having served as Rapporteur for the Committee on International Trade Law from the inception of its work in 1993 to its conclusion in 2014. He is a Chair of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Local Production and Technology Transfer and member of the Technical Advisory Group to the WHO C-TAP program (having also served as consultant to the World Health Organization on a variety of projects), and is consultant to the United Nations Development Program and other multilateral institutions.

 

Professor Abbott served on the editorial board of the Journal of International Economic Law (Oxford), and is on the editorial board of the WIPO-WTO Colloquium Series and the Journal of Intellectual Property Rights (NISCAIR/India). He regularly serves as panelist for the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.  He is on the panel of arbitrators under the dispute settlement mechanism of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement, and he is on the panel of arbitrators of the South China International Arbitration Center (Hong Kong)(SCIAHK) and the Shenzhen Court  of International Arbitration (SCIA). He has served as counsel to governments in WTO dispute settlement proceedings, and in national court proceedings.

 

Prior to entering academia, Professor Abbott was partner in a major US law firm and specialized in international business regulation and technology-related transactions. He was based in San Francisco (1977-1983) and Silicon Valley (1984-1989). Professor Abbott is Executive Director of the Global Medicines Council, a non-profit organization addressing medicines innovation and access, and Co-Director of the Global Foresight Group addressing pandemic preparedness, survillance and response. He is a graduate of the Yale Law School and the University of California, Berkeley.

Recent activities

September 3, 2024, Participated as Resource Person

WHO INB related interactive dialogues, Topic 1. Article 12 (Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System), with submission of written response to discussion questions proposed by the Bureau for resource persons

September 2, 2024, Chaired Meeting

WHO Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Local Product and Technology Transfer (LPTT), Responding to the Declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) regarding Mpox (Virtual)

September 1, 2024 Publication

The State of Intellectual Property and International Law, in New Trends in International Law: Festscrift in Honor of Judge Hisashi Owada, edited by Chia-Jui Cheng, Brill | Nijhoff 2024

June 25, 2024 Co-Chaired Session

Presentation and discussion of Global Health Law Committee of International Law Association 2024 Report at Athens Biennial

May 7, 2024, Speaker

Bridging Innovations: Technology Transfer for Sustainable Local Production, The Road to World Local Production Forum 2025, World Health Organization, AIM Congress 2024 (Adapting To A Shifting Investment Landscape: Harnessing New Potential For Global Economic Development), Abu Dhabi

April 29-30, 2024, Panelist

Innovation and access to medicines, and New directions in TRIPS implementation, Symposium on Policy insights and practical lessons from TRIPS implementation, WTO Headquarters, Geneva

April 25, 2024, Speaker

High-Level Dialogue: TRIPS at 30, WTO Headquarters, Geneva

March 13-15, 2024, Panelist

Panelist (conversation with) on Supporting Technology Transfers through Policies and Policy Coherence (moderated by Dr. Jicui Dong), WHO-AfricaCDC meeting on Facilitating Technology Transfer to Promote Local Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines, and Other Health Technologies in Africa, Gaborone, Botswana

March 5-6, 2024

Chair Meeting of WHO Technical Advisory Group (TAG) - Local Production and Technology Transfer, WHO Headquarters, Geneva

February 20, 2024

Submission of Global Health Law Committee draft Report for the ILA 2024 Athens Biennial (updated to June 19, 2024 version)

February 1, 2024

Publication of Frederick M. Abbott, Thomas Cottier, Francis Gurry, Ryan B. Abbott, Mira Burri, Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan and Maegan McCann, International Intellectual Property in an Integrated World Economy, Fifth Edition (Aspen Publishing 2024)

January 12, 2024

Nominated for Best Academic Article, 2024 Antitrust Writing Awards, Unilateral Conduct subcategory, Prosecuting Excessive Pricing of Pharmaceuticals under Competition Law: Evolutionary Development, 24 Columbia Science & Technology Law Review 173 (2023)https://awards.concurrences.com/en/awards/2024/academic-articles/prosecuting-excessive-pricing-of-pharmaceuticals-under-competition-law, (voting open)

November 17, 2023

Presentation Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer for COVID-19 Vaccines: Assessment of the Record, AVPA-AVMI Private Sector Workshop on Technology Transfer (Online/Africa)

November 8, 2023: Panel presentation

session on Geo-diversifying manufacturing capacity through licensing and technology transfer, 2nd World Local Production Forum (WHO), Hague, Netherlands (Nov. 6-8, 2023) 

November 2, 2023

Publication of Frederick Abbott, Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer for COVID-19 Vaccines: Assessment of the Record, World Intellectual Property Organization, 2023 (Geneva, Switzerland)

November 2, 2023

Workshop with South Africa Competition Commission staff on Intellectual Property Law in Pharmaceuticals, remote (US-South Africa)

June 30, 2023: Speaker

TRIPS and public health: the challenge of coordination of policy at international, regional and national levels, and; TRIPS and competition policy: reflections on the international dimension, TRIPS at 25, World Trade Organization, Geneva

June 29-30, 2023: Speaker

Plenary Session, Challenges and Opportunities for IP Research in a Knowledge and Post-Pandemic Economy; Chair panel and moderator, Sustainable Development, 3D Printing and Biotechnology - Intellectual Property Researchers Europe (IPRE) Conference, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the School of Law, University of Geneva (UNIGE), Geneva

June 27, 2023: Panel Chair and Presenter

Technology Transfer and Licensing in Practice, WHO-WIPO-WTO – 4th Trilateral Webinar, hosted from WTO Headquarters, Geneva, YouTube video 

June 2023

Publication of Contribution of the Committee on International Trade Law, in To the Benefit of International Law, eds. C. Kessedjian, O. Descamps & T. Fabrizi, Editions Pantheon-Assas (2023)

May 24, 2023: Publication

 Prosecuting Excessive Pricing of Pharmaceuticals under Competition Law: Evolutionary Development,24 Columbia Science & Technology Law Review 173 (2023)

May 8, 2023: Presentation

 Reflections on Four Sets of Challenges: Navigating the Path Forward in Improving Access with Collective Action after the WLPF, WHO Local Production and Assistance (LPA) Unit Panel, 12th Annual Investment Meeting, Abu Dhabi, UAE

April 3-5, 2023

Participate as member of WHO C-TAP Technical Advisory Group (TAG) in meeting of TAG at WHO Headquarters, Geneva

March 31, 2023: Presentation

The World Keeps Turning: IP Rules for the Age of Deglobalization, at Creativity and Innovation Is Local Symposium, Texas A&M Law (Ft. Worth, Texas)

March 15, 2023:

Presentation on IP Licensing for the Local Production of Medicines, 2nd Intellectual Property for Health Seminar for Health Attachés, WIPO headquarters, Geneva (hybrid – online)

December 30, 2022:

Published, A competition law approach to accessing insulin: A working paper, authored by Frederick M. Abbott and Padmashree Gehl Sampath, United Nations Development Programme (2022)

December 12, 2022:

Presentation on Exhaustion of copyright in the context of crossborder uses of research materials, Global Expert Network on Copyright User Rights, Geneva, Switzerland (in-person)

November 30, 2022: Presentation:

Excessive pricing doctrine in the pharmaceutical sector: from theory to cost accounting, South African Competition Authority

October 22, 2022:

Presentation on 100 Years of International IP - Reflections on Past, Present and Future, Centennial Meeting of American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), New York City 

October 14, 2022:

Presentation on Responding to the Wave of Cybercrime, WIPO Domain Name Panelists Meeting, Geneva

September 13, 2022:

Presentation on Regionalizing Pharmaceutical Production and Innovation, Panel on Social Protection and Health: South-South and Triangular Cooperation to Enhance Capacity to Produce and Deliver Vaccines, Thematic Solution Forum 7, Global South-South Development Expo 2022 Bangkok (hybrid meeting, presentation remote)

June 21, 2022:

Chaired panel on Global Health Law in a Deteriorating Environment and Co-Chaired Open Session of Global Health Law Committee at the International Law Association 80th Biennial Conference in Lisbon, Portugal

May 4, 2022: Presentation:

Excessive pricing doctrine in the pharmaceutical sector: from theory to cost accounting, Italian Competition Authority

April 19, 2022:

Presentation, Using Competition Law to Promote Access to Health Technologies: the UNDP Guidebook: A discussion on the new edition of the UNDP Guidebook on competition law and pharmaceuticals, Syracuse Univ. College of Law 

February 22, 2022:

International Law Association, 2022 Report, Global Health Lawdraft text of February 22, 2022, Fourth Report of the Committee

December 15, 2021: Publication:

 Technology Governance in a Devolved Global Legal Order: Lessons from the China-USA Strategic Conflictin A New Global Economic Order, pgs. 197-226, Chia-Jui Cheng ed. (Brill/Nijhoff) (2022)

December 9 (US)/10 (China), 2021: Presentation:

China's Legal Integration with the Global Intellectual Property System and the Road Ahead, Conference on 20th Anniversary of China's Accession to the WTO, Peking University Law School, Beijing, China (hybrid online and in-person)

October 29, 2021: Panel Chair:

Global Governance and World Health Organization Reform in the Wake of COVID-19, International Law Weekend, American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA)

October 19, 2021:

Presentation, The COVID-19 Technology Transfer Environment and the Potential Uses of WIPO’s New ADR Options, Online Workshop on New WIPO ADR Options for Life Sciences, WIPO’s COVID-19 Related Services and Support, (Geneva) Online

September 30, 2021:

Keynote presentation, Trends in the Development and Use of Competition Law to Promote Access to the Benefits of Health Technologies, A Dialogue: Trends and Strategies in the Use of Competition Law to Promote Innovation of and Affordable Access to Health Technologies, UNDP in cooperation with the Government of Namibia and the Namibia Competition Commission, Online

September 24, 2021:

The Work Program of the Global Health Committee in an Era of Unprecedented Challenges, The COVID-19 Pandemic and International Law, German Association of International Law, Working Group: International Health Law & Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law 

September 16, 2021:

Keynote Address, Excessive pricing doctrine in the pharmaceutical sector: past, present and future, EU Competition Law and Pharmaceuticals Workshop, hosted by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) 

July 20, 2021:

Speaker at International Seminar on “Harnessing Public Research for Innovation in the Time of COVID-19 and Beyond – The Role of Knowledge Transfer Policies”, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in cooperation with AUTM, ICC and LESI, Geneva (online)

July 2021:

Appointed to the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on the World Health Organization COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (2-year term)

June 23, 2021:

Panelist presentation at first WHO World Local Production Forum, Session 4, Expanding Access to Affordable Capital, Geneva (online)

May 12, 2021:

 Localization of Pharmaceutical Production and the Dissemination of Health Technologies, World Trade Organization, 2021 Trade and Public Health Virtual Course Webinar: Dissemination of Health Technologies, YouTube link: https://youtu.be/Sx4KottMKAY

April 20, 2021:

 Using Competition Law to Promote Affordable Access to Health Technologies in Low-and Middle-Income Countries, Fair Pricing in times of public health emergency and to accelerate achievements of Sustainable Development Goals health targets, World Health Organization 2021 Fair Pricing Forum, organized with the support of Argentina

March 18, 2021:

F. Abbott, R. Abbott, J. Fortunak, P. Gehl Sampath & D. Walwyn, Opportunities, Constraints and Critical Supports for Achieving Sustainable Local Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Africa: With a Focus on the Role of Finance, Final Report, March 18, 2021 (Nova Worldwide), also available at https://nova-worldwide.com/OSF-PHP_report (with Executive Summary and Addenda); DOI: 10.33009/osf-php_report; DOI link: https://doi.org/10.33009/osf-php_report

February 2021:

 Child-Proofing Global Public Health in Anticipation of Emergency, project on Global Governance: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Need for Post-COVID-19 Reform collection in Washington University Global Studies Law Review (forthcoming 2021)

September 2020:

Facilitating Access to Cross-Border Supplies of Patented Pharmaceuticals: The Case of the COVID-19 Pandemic (co-author with Jerome H. Reichman), Journal of International Economic Law (Oxford)(Volume 23, Issue 3, pp. 535-561, Sept. 2020)

August 2020:

 The TRIPS Agreement Article 73 Security Exceptions and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Research Paper 116, South Centre, Geneva (August 2020)

December 3-4, 2020

International Experiences and Access to Medicines: Synthesizing Trends and Reflecting on Paths Forward, Presentation at Fair and Equitable Pricing in Health: Competition Law and Access to Medicines, South Centre/IDEC Webinar

November 25, 2020, Canada (online)

Do Trade Rules on Intellectual Property Represent an Obstacle to Global Access to a Coronavirus Vaccine?, Presentation at Queen’s Institute on Trade Policy 2020, Trade Rules for the Pandemic and Its Aftermath

April 28, 2020

Webinar with Frederick Abbott and Gian Luca Burci, et al, COVID-19 and International Law: A Snapshot, a CLE seminar hosted on April 28, 2020, by the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, and the International Law Association (American Branch

forthcoming 2020

Article: Under the Radar: Reflections on ‘Forced’ Technology Transfer and the Erosion of Developmental Sovereignty in GRUR International (Oxford), Issue 3 (planned),

November 6, 2019

Presentation on Pharmaceuticals, Market Exclusivities and Abuse of Dominance: The Evolution of Excessive Pricing DoctrineHow much is too much? at Excessive Pharmaceutical Prices in European Competition Law & Regulation, CeBIL, Copenhagen University

26-27 September 2019

Presentation on Law and its limitations in global public health: Non-voluntary patent licensing post-Doha at Innovation, Justice, and Globalization – A Celebration of J.H. Reichman • Harvard Law School, Harvard University

September 26, 2019

Presentation on TRIPS, Strategic Competition and Global Welfare: IP at the Intersection of Law and Power at Conference on A Changing International Economic Order and the Response from International Law, at University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing, China

June 28 and 29, 2019

Presentation on Health Technologies, Market Exclusivities and Abuse of Dominance: Methodology and Structure for Competition Law Enforcement, at IP Researchers Europe Conference. organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the School of Law, University of Geneva (UNIGE), Geneva,

France, June 21, 2019

Presentation on Technology Transfer and Development, Distinguished Honorary Panel, CEIPI/WIPO/INPI Advanced Training Course, Strasbourg

March 29, 2019

Working Paper, TRIPS, Strategic Competition and Global Welfare: IP at the Intersection of Law and Power, Presented at Symposium on the TRIPS Agreement at 25, Texas A&M Law School, Fort Worth, Texas

January 15, 2019

Using competition law to address high medicines prices: Webinar, with accompanying PowerPoint, Global Health Centre – Graduate Institute|Geneva

15-16 October 2018

Presentations on IP, Trade and Development and IP and Health at Summit on Global Trade, Technology Innovation, Intellectual Property and Development, WTO and China Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, with WIPO, Xiamen, Fujian, China

November 7 (2018)

The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal’s Misguided Reprieve for Pfizer’s Excessive Pricing Abuse, in IIC - International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, Volume 49

May 23, 2018

US Section 301, China, and technology transfer: Law and its limitations revisited (again), International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Opinion,

Kluwer Law International 1998

Reflection Paper on China in the World Trading System: Defining the Principles of Engagement in CHINA IN THE WORLD TRADING SYSTEM: DEFINING THE PRINCIPLES OF ENGAGEMENT, pp. 1-43, F.M. Abbott, ed.

Press 1998

Technology and State Enterprise in the WTO in STATE TRADING IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 121, T. Cottier and P. Mavroidis, eds., U. Mich

Press 2007

China in the WTO 2006: 'Law and its Limitations' in the Context of TRIPS in WTO LAW AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, pp. 59-81, G. Bermann, P. Mavroidis, eds., Cambridge Univ

Excessive Pharmaceutical Prices and Competition Law: Doctrinal Development to Protect Public Health, forthcoming in UC Irvine Law Review, Volume 6, Issue 3, Spring 2017

Rethinking Patents: From ‘Intellectual Property’ to ‘Private Taxation Scheme’, in KRITIKA: ESSAYS ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, vol. 1, pgs. 1-16 (eds. P. Drahos, G. Ghidini, H. Ullrich), Edward Elgar 2015

Trade in medines, in Trade and Health: Towards building a National Strategy 117-40 (eds. R. Smith et al.), World Health Organization (2015)

Third Contribution to Roundtable on Climate mitigation and intellectual property in tension, Let a thousand technologies bloom (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Mar. 13, 2015)

Second Contribution to Roundtable on Climate mitigation and intellectual property in tension, Aggregating capital, addressing climate change (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Mar. 13, 2015)

Summary Report of Global Health Security Meeting, ILA Global Health Law Committee - Graduate Institute|Geneva Global Health Programme, Feb. 19, 2015

Contribution to Roundtable on Climate mitigation and intellectual property in tension, A problem, but not without solutions (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Feb. 19, 2015)

October 25-27, 2017

Presentations at DTI South Africa - Workshop on Draft Intellectual Property Policy, Policy Coherence, IP and Competition, Compulsory Licensing and Government Use

June 15, 2017

Presentation (PPT and Audio), A Never-ending Tale: IP governance, the (captured) regulatory state and the world of second bests, Conference in Honour of Pedro Roffe, Geneva

Presentation (PPT and Audio), Competition Doctrines for the Medicines Sector: Innovation and Affordability, 7th ASEAN Competition Conference 2017 - ASEAN@50  – Managing Change in a Competitive ASEAN, March 8, 2017. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Presentation (PPT) on Non-Voluntary Patent Licensing in International Law at Workshop on the History, Experiences, and Prospects of Compulsory Licensing of Medical Patents in the United States, KEI – February 24, 2017, Washington, DC

17 February 2017

Presentation (audio) at WTO@20 Conference, New Delhi - The WTO and Intellectual Property in the Midst of Tectonic Shift

Johannesburg, Aug. 9, 2016

Meeting of ILA Global Health Law Committee

July 22, 2016

No dispute on public health, The Hindu BusinessLine, July 22, 2016 (Uruguay ISDS tobacco case)

May 23, 2016

Presentation at Official BRICS Side Event, 69th World Health Assembly, Geneva, May 23, 2016, TRIPS plus provisions in plurilateral/regional trade agreements and their impact on access to medicines at the national and global level 

March 3, 2016

Submission to Senate Finance Committee on March 3, 2016 in response to request feedback regarding the report on “The Price of Sovaldi and its impact on the U.S. Health Care System”

March 9, 2016

Global Health Law Committee submissions to UN High Level Panel on Access to Medicines process to be presented in London on

July 10, 2015

Peter Gosselin, Obama Pushes Trade Partners to Add Drug Rules He Opposes in U.S., Washington Post/Bloomberg News

June 15, 2015

Soumonty Kanungo, Biased? India has a balanced pharma patent regime, DNA India

June 10, 2015

Anju Ghangurde, Prof Abbott on Lilly's 'borderline absurd' ISDS plaint and the TPP, SCRIP Intelligence

May 7, 2024, Speaker

Bridging Innovations: Technology Transfer for Sustainable Local Production, The Road to World Local Production Forum 2025, World Health Organization, AIM Congress 2024 (Adapting To A Shifting Investment Landscape: Harnessing New Potential For Global Economic Development), Abu Dhabi --- At bottom

IP-Watch Interview

May 21, 2014 William New interviews Frederick Abbott

Discussing Emerging Markets and the World Patent Order

Link to text

 

Show More plus icon

IP-Watch Interview

May 21, 2014 William New interviews Frederick Abbott 
D iscussing Emerging Markets and the World Patent Order

http://www.ip-watch.org/2014/05/21/author-interview-emerging-markets-and-the-world-patent-order/

Frederick Abbott’s Books

International Intellectual Property in an Integrated World Economy, Fifth Edition

by Frederick M. Abbott, Thomas Cottier, Francis Gurry, Ryan B. Abbott, Mira Burri, Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan, Maegan McCann

International Intellectual Property in an Integrated World Economy features a comprehensive introduction to the global system regulating the field of intellectual property rights, including how the treatment of IP may affect a broad range of social and political interests.  

Emerging Markets and the World Patent Order

Edited by Frederick M. Abbott, Edward Ball Eminent Scholar Professor of International Law, Florida State University College of Law, US, Carlos M. Correa, Professor and Director, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Industrial Property and Economics

The patent has emerged as a dominant force in 21st century economic policy. This book examines the impact of the BRICS and other emerging economies on the global patent framework and charts the phenomenal rise in the number of patents in some of these countries. Contributors include: F.M. Abbott, D. Borges Barbosa, C.M. Correa, P. Drahos, M. El Said, C. Fink, P. Gehl Sampath, K. Karachalios, R. Kher, J. Kuanpoth, A. Kudlinski, T. Payosova, P. Roffe, S.K. Sell, Y. Tamura, G. Van Overwalle, Y.A. Vawda, H. Zhang, W. Zhuang

Global Pharmaceutical Policy

by Frederick M. Abbott (Author), Graham Dukes (Author)

Pharmaceuticals play a central role in health care throughout the world. The pharmaceutical industry is beset with difficulties as increasing research and development expenditure yields fewer new treatments. Public and private budgets strain under the weight of high prices and limited access.