Global Health 2035 Report: Flawed Projections 23/01/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Daniele Dionisio writes: Hopes that a comprehensive global health goal could be reached by 2035 are hardly credible with the load of unresolved issues still on the table. This article turns the spotlight on much-debated relevant questions that were left out or under-scrutinised in a recently published Lancet report.
New Health Collaboration Touts Ethics, Aims To Put Patients First 22/01/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Several health care organisations this week signed a “consensus framework” for ethical collaboration between patients’ organisations, healthcare professionals, and the pharmaceutical industry.
WHO Board To Discuss Relationship With Industry, Organisations 18/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Health Organization has been soul-searching for several years since running into deep debt and seeing private organisations gather influence in global public health policy. Next week, the WHO Board will consider a proposal on how to allow the intergovernmental body work with such organisations and industry without giving up its own independence and oversight role.
India: The Full Spectrum On FDI In Brownfield Companies 17/01/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment DG Shah writes: Acquisition of brownfield, or existing, pharmaceutical companies may be seen in different perspectives as greenfield, or new, projects are permitted 100% equity via the automatic route. India has sought FDI mainly to bridge the shortfall in investment or to facilitate the flow of know-how and technology. We must first assess the need of the pharma sector and then evaluate whether mere change of ownership would meet its needs.
Interview: Richard Hill On “The New International Telecommunications And The Internet” 17/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Richard Hill, an independent consultant in Geneva who was formerly a senior staff member at the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), recently published, “The New International Telecommunication Regulations and the Internet: A Commentary and Legislative History.” In a set of questions with Intellectual Property Watch’s William New, Hill talked about his book, which explains the significance of the 1988 and 2012 International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) and covers the preparatory process leading up to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). The book also discusses the events leading to the non-signature by the treaty of a significant number of states, outlines possible consequences of that split between states, and offers possible ways forward.
Special Report: Traditional Knowledge And IP: View From The Ground Up 17/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Participants at a recent conference in South Africa offered insights and some optimism about prospects for local communities to exploit their traditional knowledge to help their economies while at the same time protecting that knowledge.
Year Ahead: In US, 2014 Promises Bad News For Patent Trolls And Trademark Owners 15/01/2014 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment 2013 was an awkward year in the United States for so-called “patent trolls.” These companies, whose primary business is monetising their patents through licensing and litigation, faced growing criticism from academics, business executives, and US government officials. 2014 could prove even worse for trolls: America’s Congress, courts and executive branch are now considering various measures that would make patent trolling more difficult. And those are just some of the major changes that are likely to roil the US IP system this year.
WHO Initiative On Poor Quality Medicines Heads To Board Next Week 15/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment World Health Organization member governments have been working for several years to agree on ways to prevent the spread of dangerous and misleading substandard and fake medical products. Now, they seem to be moving in the direction of concrete action.
Departed Indian Diplomat Confronted US Business Over India’s IP Policy 12/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Just weeks before being abruptly arrested and strip-searched in New York, a now-departed Indian diplomat took on the powerful US business lobby over India’s controversial approach to intellectual property.
Interview: Prof. Chidi Oguamanam On “Intellectual Property In Global Governance” 10/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In this interview, Intellectual Property Watch sat down with Prof. Chidi Oguamanam, a professor in the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, to talk about his recent book, “Intellectual Property in Global Governance: A Development Question.” The book, published by Routledge, covers issues of the knowledge economy, structures and regime dynamics, human rights, agriculture, traditional/indigenous knowledge, traditional cultural expressions/folklore, and management of intellectual property in global governance.