The TRIPS waiver enables domestic restrictions on IP rights.
Jones ’21 [Mike; Sean McConnell; Lauren Giambalvo and Emily Harmon; August 9; Registered Patent Attorney with Troutman Pepper, Former Engineer with the U.S. Department of Defense; IP Watchdog, “What Is A ‘Patent Waiver’ Anyway? Zooming Out On The TRIPS COVID IP Waiver Debate,” https://ipwatchdog.com/2021/08/09/patent-waiver-anyway-zooming-trips-covid-ipwaiver-debate/id=136381/]
If provisions in Part II, Section 5 and the associated enforcement sections are waived, Members would no longer be required to issue patents or provide avenues for patent holders to enforce patent rights. The proposal does not, however, require Members to waive their own domestic patent rights. In other words, the proposal to waive certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, the “patent waiver,” does not directly waive any patent protections. Rather, the patent waiver grants Members permission to waive their own domestic patent protections.