Ebola, Reform High On WHO Executive Board Agenda This Week26/01/2015 by Catherine Saez and William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentThe World Health Organization Executive Board yesterday adopted a resolution on Ebola, on the eve of today’s opening of its 10-day meeting addressing a broad range of health issues, including several of relevance to the intellectual property and innovation community. Today, Italy requested that member states be involved in the setting of WHO guidelines, raising governance issues, while WHO Director General Margaret Chan called for strong health systems and reform to the WHO structure, and asked for room to move on WHO relations with industry.
The Latest News In Intellectual Property From ANEPI Ecuador24/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentWelcome to (ANEPI), the first Intellectual Property News Agency of Ecuador. The Agencia de Noticias Especializada en Propiedad Intelectual (ANEPI) publishes news, analysis, interviews, feature articles, a weekly update and more on Ecuador and the region, at http://www.anepi.ec. Articles are primarily in Spanish with some translation. Below is the list of the week’s stories on […]
WIPO Seminar Discusses Interface Between IP And Private International Law23/01/2015 by Elena Bourtchouladze for Intellectual Property Watch and James Cote for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentExperts gathered in Geneva recently to review past projects on intellectual property and private international law, and look toward the future. Now, through efforts to draft a set of guidelines, headway is being made on finding ways to manage the legal uncertainties in this area.
Biosimilars Present Opportunity, Challenge For Developing Countries, UNCTAD Group Says23/01/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentBiosimilars are a hot topic. Beyond the colossal profits foreseen by some, drawing a lot of interested parties into the game, developing countries mean to play a role in this new frontier. However, biosimilars – close copies of biopharmaceutical products – are difficult and very costly to produce and come as a challenge to the generic industry used to duplicating small molecules. And some warn about differences in regulatory requirements, which could effectively boot developing countries out of the global market.
Year Ahead: Big IP Developments Loom For US Law In 201521/01/2015 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment2014 brought major changes to the United States intellectual property system, particularly in the area of patent law. 2015 promises more of the same, as the new Supreme Court ruling in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA v. Sandoz attests. Here’s a discussion of Teva and other key cases and developments to watch this year.
WIPO Re:Search Celebrates 3 Years, Looks To The Future20/01/2015 by William New and Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentSeveral years ago, the World Intellectual Property Organization set up a project aimed at helping bring together those with intellectual property rights and those with ideas for research to develop medical products for people in need. The project, WIPO Re:Search, has gathered numerous partners and is beginning to look ahead to its next phases, including the possible eventuality of drug development, according to the WIPO secretariat.
Year Ahead: Copyright Reform, EPO Governance, Trade Secrets Among Top European IP Issues In 201519/01/2015 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentReview, and possibly reform, of the European Union copyright system tops the list of “hot” European intellectual property issues this year. The new European Commission has made modernising copyright rules a major priority, while fresh debate has broken out over the need for levies on digital copying devices to remunerate rights holders.Meanwhile ongoing unrest between European Patent Office (EPO) staff and management looks likely to continue, as do efforts to finalise the unitary European patent and Unified Patent Court. EU legislation to protect trade secrets could be adopted and trademark law updated. In addition, several important IP-related decisions are expected from the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
WHO Report: Access, Affordability Of Medicines Key To Reducing Non-Communicable Diseases19/01/2015 by James Cote for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentA new report from the World Health Organization examines the Global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013-2020 (known as the Global NCD Action Plan) and provides some “lessons learnt from implementation.” The report calls for urgent action by governments to stop the “epidemic” of cancer and mostly preventable diseases from sources like tobacco use, salt intake, physical inactivity, and high blood pressure. This includes ensuring treatment is available and affordable, it says.
The Latest News In Intellectual Property From ANEPI Ecuador17/01/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentWelcome to (ANEPI), the first Intellectual Property News Agency of Ecuador. The Agencia de Noticias Especializada en Propiedad Intelectual (ANEPI) publishes news, analysis, interviews, feature articles, a weekly update and more on Ecuador and the region, at http://www.anepi.ec. Articles are primarily in Spanish with some translation. Below is the list of the week’s stories on ANEPI, including in English: “Latin America, Patents, Innovation and Brands within the Intellectual Property System.”Bienvenido a (ANEPI), La Primera Agencia de Noticias de Propiedad Intelectual del Ecuador: Síguenos http://www.anepi.ec/ANEPIEcuador
Gilead To Appeal India Patent Rejection, Hails Regulatory Approval16/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentPharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead has given its side to this week’s story of the rejection of its patent on a hepatitis C treatment in India, and it insists it will prevail in making its medicines available in India on its terms.