Background
ITPC was birthed in 2003 in Cape Town, South Africa, by a committed group of 125 HIV activists from 65 countries who refused to accept a world in which people living with HIV were denied access to life-saving medicine. As ITPC grew into a Global Activist Network (GAN) advocating for the needs of communities affected by HIV and TB, it also laid the groundwork for community-driven work extending beyond singular diseases and addressing the systemic issues affecting people’s health and quality of life— exposing and resisting entrenched global power dynamics that consistently prioritize privilege and profit over the right to health and dignity. Today, we celebrate 20 years, highlighting progress in the fight for equitable access and affordability to treatment, amplifying community power, and building resilience within communities.
The Solidarity Project aims to improve public health outcomes (incidence, prevalence, and reductions in morbidity and mortality) by improving the affordability of key patented health products for HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, cervical cancer, and any public health emergencies in 24 LMICs. The Solidarity Project, which complements other access strategies such as voluntary licenses, aims to address IP barriers in 24 LMICs, by working within the framework of national laws and international agreements such as the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to facilitate price reductions through market entry of key generic and biosimilar products (GBPs).
Under ITPC’s global coordination of the project, the study assessing adequacy of EPO validation system for the public health needs of LMICs using concrete examples from countries that already have validation agreements with EPO (Morocco and Moldova) will be implemented by the group of experts from global and national level.
Consultant Scope of Work and Deliverables
ITPC is seeking a global level Researcher on EPO validation agreements impact to conduct the following components of the study:
- Overview of EPO validation system: history and its nature in terms of trying to apply EPO approach by exporting patent examination standard to LMICs and its potential impact from access to medicines perspective (including short review EPO Reinforced Partnership Program);
- Literature review of sources assessing EPO validation system, patentability standard and patent examination approach at EPO by synthesizing main academic works (mainly economics and political science), including explanation of how the EPO Guidelines are drafted/updated, a critical assessment of how this can affect patentability outcomes in practice; critical assessments of patentability outcomes;
- Mapping of Key Civil Society Critiques. Identification and mapping of key civil society organizations, campaigns, publications and positions criticizing the EPO examination standards, validation system and its impact on access to medicines in LMICs.
- Statistical analysis methodology preparation of trends in patent applications and patenting through EPO validation system overall and in particular in Morocco and Moldova. Access and configuration of databases (PATSTAT, Espacenet, national registers), construction of SQL queries, definition of statistical indicators, setup of reproducible data pipeline.
- Statistical Analysis (Per Country), including identification of validation agreement entry into force, extraction of validated EP patent data (national publication + translation + fees), data cleaning, trend analysis, country-specific visualizations, and contribution to comparative overview. Countries: Morocco, Moldova.
- EPO-Level Patent Search (per INN): Compile INN list from national research data. Conduct EPO-level patent search per INN (2 INNs minimum): identification of search terms, database queries (Espacenet, European Patent Register, Pat-INFORMED, PATENTSCOPE), analysis of patent families, status verification, and structured data sheet per INN.
- Semi-Structured Interviews (per interview): Full cycle per interview: scheduling, preparation of tailored interview guide, conducting the interview (60–90 min), transcription, coding and analysis. Target interviewees: EPO officials, national patent offices, procurement/market stakeholders, local manufacturers, civil society. Minimum 4 interviews.
- National-Level Patent Validation Search (per INN/country): Using EPO-level results, determine if relevant European patents are validated in each target country – minimum 2 INNs per country (Morocco, Moldova). Priced per INN per country combination. May be shared with or delegated to national legal/IP consultant.
- Final Briefing Paper, Annexes & Slide Deck
Drafting of final briefing paper (5–10 pages) and preparation of: methodology description; clean dataset with data dictionary; reproducible scripts; static/interactive charts; short slide deck for presentations. Includes coordination meetings with national consultants (at least one joint working session) and integration of national-level findings into the final outputs.
Duration of Consultancy
8 June to 31 December 2026
Deliverable
- Literature review note;
- Statistical analysis methodology;
- EPO-Level Patent Search — Full Scale (per INN);
- National-Level Patent Validation Search (per INN/country)
- Final Briefing Paper, Annexes & Slide Deck
Education & Experience Requirements
- Graduate degree in intellectual property law, economics, philosophy or related field is a plus
- PhD degree in intellectual property topic is a plus
- Experience working on research on intellectual property topics, knowledge of patents, patent law
- Experience with European patent system issues is a plus
- Knowledge or previous experience with intellectual property and access to medicines issues
- Advanced computer experience is required – MS Office: Word, Excel, Access, Outlook and PowerPoint, and Adobe.
Compensation shall be provided in partial payments on a monthly basis for work completed, satisfactory to ITPC’s quality of service for not more than 32 days. Payment will be made within 30 days upon delivery of the monthly invoice.
To Apply:
Please send a Proposal that should consist of at least the following documents and information:
- CV or autobiography;
- Daily rate in USD in separate file attachment called “Financial Proposal” or in the body of email;
to vjizana@itpcglobal.org with the subject line “Special Advisor – Application: Consultant Name” by 29 May 2026 23:59 SAST.