Global Biotech Industry Tests Policy Waters In Geneva 04/12/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A delegation of heads of biotechnology companies visited Geneva this month to present the International Confederation of Biotechnology Trade Associations (ICBA). The ICBA was created in 2012, but is now looking to make its voice heard in Geneva and inform policy discussions, and is finding it is not easy to become an observer in some organisations. They also underlined the importance of intellectual property for the biotech sector, in particular to attract indispensable capital. The delegation sat down with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez to talk about their Geneva visit.
Buenos Aires Ministerial Not The End Of The Road, WTO Director Tells Reporters 28/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The road to the World Trade Organization ministerial conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, starting in a couple of weeks does not seem to be a walk in the park, as they say. WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo, in a press briefing today [27 November], explained what can be expected from the 11th ministerial conference. He said consensus is escaping many issues, but Buenos Aires is not the end of the road, but rather one more step in the direction of trade liberalisation.
WIPO Development And IP Committee This Week: Agenda Includes Flexibilities, Tech Transfer, SDGs, Studies 27/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Following a session in May hailed as the most positive in years, the World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property reconvenes this week. Among items to be discussed are a revised proposal by the African Group to convene a biennial international conference on IP and development, how to deal with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and recommendations of an independent review of the implementation of the 2007 WIPO Development Agenda Recommendations.
‘The WHO Does Not Have A Board’: New WHO Director Pushes To Make Agency More Efficient 24/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Tedros) admonished member states at the close of this week’s special session of the WHO Executive Board charged with examining the agency’s draft work programme for 2019-2023. A trust deficit among member states leads to the multiplication of national statements, impeding efficiency, he said. Meanwhile, a number of countries called for affordable and accessible medicines, and help to manufacture generic medicines locally, while the United States pushed the role of the private sector.
Breeders Group CIOPORA Calls For New Plant Varieties To Be Patentable 23/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new “position paper” by a plant breeders industry group revives the argument that plant-related inventions should be patentable. New plant breeding techniques modifying the plant genome are not essentially biological processes, thus should be patentable, the paper says. The group also calls for a worldwide harmonised research exemption on plant variety rights and patents for the purpose of improving the invention.
WHO Members Delve Into Draft 5-Year Work Programme, Question Finance, Focus 22/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments World Health Organization member states’ first reactions to the secretariat-proposed draft work programme for the next five years were mixed this morning. Although many praised the effort and the vision of the programme of work, in particular its alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a number of countries found the programme ambitious without the needed financial backing, and sometimes straying from the core function of the organisation.
WHO Draft Work Program To Be Presented, Discussed 21/11/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Health Organization is presenting its draft work program for 2019-2023 for consideration by member states this week.
Artist Resale Right Does Not Seem To Affect Art Market, Economic Study At WIPO Says 21/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A few days after a Leonardo da Vinci painting shattered the record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at Christie’s auction house in New York, the question of resale right for visual artists was discussed at the World Intellectual Property Organization. According to researchers, the establishment of a resale right in a particular country, which benefits the artist when her work is resold at a much higher value, is likely to have no negative effects on the country’s art market. The United States and China, the two largest global art markets, have not implemented the resale right yet.
WIPO Committee Debates Future Of Copyright Exceptions, Will Keep Working On Broadcasting Text 21/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee last week sent back to the drawing board draft action plans provided by the secretariat on exceptions and limitations to copyright for specific actors such as educational institutions and libraries. Meanwhile, discussions on the rights of broadcasting organisations against signal theft and piracy are expected to give way to a new text on specific topics, to be produced by the end of the month, while topics such as the resale right did not make it to standing agenda items but remain on list of items to be discussed in the spring.
Brexit Drives European Medicines Agency To The Netherlands, Move By March 2019 21/11/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As a consequence of the decision of the United Kingdom to go its separate way, the remaining European Union member states decided yesterday that the European Medicines Agency should move to Amsterdam by the end of March 2019.