Panellists: Price Is Main Barrier To Medicines Access In Rich And Poor Countries30/10/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 CommentsA joint symposium of the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization and World Intellectual Property Organization this week included several panels on how trade, public health and intellectual property could positively interact to increase access to medicines.
India, US Take Stock Of Work On IP; To Boost Copyright, Trade Secrets30/10/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentThe trade ministers of the United States and India yesterday reviewed work from the past year on a full range of intellectual property issues and made new commitments, as part of their larger bilateral trade policy forum. Among the issues was a commitment to work for access to medicines, increase work on trade secrets, and deepen copyright cooperation in acknowledgement of the two biggest entertainment industries in the world.
High-Level Negotiations On LDC Pharma IP Waiver Extension At WTO30/10/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentNegotiations have been ongoing at the World Trade Organization over the extension of a waiver allowing least-developed countries not to grant or enforce intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products.
Court Orders USTR To Justify Industry Advisor Confidentiality In TPP29/10/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentThe Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) next week is expected to provide justification for withholding from a Freedom of Information Act request the communications with its industry advisors as confidential commercial or financial information. The case involves communications in the lead-up to completion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and could set a precedent for exemptions of communications with lobbyists.
Is There Hope For Better WIPO Administration-Staff Relations?29/10/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 CommentsThe president of the World Intellectual Property Organization staff association earlier this month raised profound concerns about ongoing practices involving staff at the UN institution. The WIPO director general then took the floor to address many of the concerns, offering explanations on various points, according to participants. In the end, both sides may be looking for an improvement this year.
WIPO Seminar: Digitisation Boosts Production Of New Music, Movies, Books29/10/2015 by Marianna Drake for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentThe latest instalment of the World Intellectual Property Organization seminar series, “The Economics of Intellectual Property,” set out to answer the question of whether the process of digitisation has affected the supply of new creative works.
Academic Tells WTO, WIPO, WHO To Stop Using The Term “Developing Countries”28/10/2015 by Marianna Drake for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentA lively keynote address urging international organisations to adopt a fact-based view of the world and new ways of segmenting countries in an increasingly convergent world, set the scene for the annual trilateral symposium on public health, intellectual property and trade taking place at the World Trade Organization today.
WIPO, WTO, WHO Heads Underline Need For Better Access To Medicines28/10/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentTrade, health, and intellectual property came together today as the heads of three specialised international organisations held an annual symposium to stimulate discussions on how the three can best help public health, and notably access to medicines in developing countries.
Kenya Considers Lifting Ban On GMOs; Seed Patents In Debate28/10/2015 by Fredrick Nzwili for Intellectual Property Watch 2 CommentsNAIROBI, Kenya – A Kenyan government plan to lift the ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is stirring a heated debate here, with experts warning on safety and the East African nation’s preparedness for the technology.
HIV Medicine Aluvia Stock-Out Dogs South Africa, Raising Patent Concerns28/10/2015 by Munyaradzi Makoni for Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentCAPE TOWN, South Africa – While Médecins Sans Frontières have blamed stock-outs of ‘Aluvia’ on the refusal to licence a patent for a generic of the HIV medicine in South Africa by AbbVie pharmaceutical company leading to persistent supply problems, the company said it has taken measures to address the problem.
