Given the global urgency of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the demand for a development of a potential coronavirus vaccine is crucial. Over the last couple months, several biotechnology companies and research laboratories have been making the headlines as they move at an unprecedented speed in search of a vaccine that combats COVID-19.  On a global scale, investors are also racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine in hopes of mitigating the spread of this virus. This race currently includes universities, publicly funded research institutes, pharmaceuticals, and biotech companies. In fact, some of these entities are working in partnership with government institutions.

In order to protect any invention, including a vaccine, a patent is necessary. Patents are intended to protect inventions and innovations, especially those that are novel, useful, and conspicuous. Products or certain processes, such as medical inventions and medicines, may be patented. Notably, the patent shall give the inventor complete control over the COVID vaccine and may decide who can use it. Thus, the race to find a cure is on. Specifically, a patent for an invention is essentially a grant of property rights to the inventor, which is issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patent owners have the rights to exclude others from making, using, offering to sell, or selling the patented invention in the U.S., or importing the patented invention into the U.S. Generally, the duration of a patent lasts up to twenty years.

Due to the Pandemic, nations all over the world have suffered from its negative impact socially, economically, and politically. Ideally, the creation of the COVID-19 vaccine would provide the human body with an opportunity to build defenses against a virus it may encounter in the future. Scientists and medical experts claim that a coronavirus vaccine is the best hope for ending the pandemic.