Canada emergency legislation allows health minister to circumvent patent laws during COVID-19 public health emergency News
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Canada emergency legislation allows health minister to circumvent patent laws during COVID-19 public health emergency

The Canadian legislature passed emergency legislation on Wednesday that will allow the Minister of Health to circumvent patent laws for supplies that are necessary to combat the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The bill requires payment of renumeration for the patentees in the “amount that the Commissioner considers to be adequate renumeration in the circumstances.”

“These provisions will help ensure that the existence of a patent covering an existing or new vaccine or treatment is not a barrier to securing needed supplies when those supplies cannot be secured from the patentee,” said the ministry. The ministry also said the new provisions applied equally to all patented inventions.

This is just one of many measures taken by the Canadian government in response to the public health emergency.

For more on COVID-19, see our special coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.