Roche Seeks Deals On Bird Flu Drug As Compulsory Licenses Loom 20/10/2005 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Roche, the Swiss-based company with rights to a medicine believed to be the most effective in the event of an avian influenza pandemic, has expressed openness to discussing arrangements with companies or governments to produce more of its flu treatment known as Tamiflu. But sceptics argue that the offer, made on 18 October, is too […]
IP Charter With ‘Public Interest Checklist’ For Governments Launched 19/10/2005 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A high-level group of legal scholars, artists, scientists and experts has launched an initiative urging governments to change the global intellectual property scheme which they argue has shifted too much toward private interests at the expense of the public. John Howkins, one of the founders of the Adelphi Charter on Creativity, Innovation and Intellectual Property, […]
US ‘Pulls Out All Stops’ As UNESCO Backs Culture Treaty 17/10/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Paris—The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) today approved a treaty for the protection of cultural diversity despite an all-out drive by the United States to get governments to change their minds. “We really pulled out all the stops” in the past week to try to change the outcome of this treaty, a US […]
US, Japanese Calls For Cultural Treaty Change Meet With Resistance 17/10/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment PARIS — Attempts by the United States and Japan to reopen negotiations on a UN draft treaty on cultural diversity today are meeting with firm resistance from developed and developing countries alike. While most nations’ ministers present at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s annual General Conference are not mentioning the United States by […]
IP Critical As Rocky US-Andean Trade Talks Resume 17/10/2005 by Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch Washington, DC—With negotiators set to resume work this week, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador are resisting demands by the United States for patent protections that go beyond those enshrined in international trade law in talks toward a U.S.-Andean free trade agreement continuing this fall. At the international level, trade-related […]
IP Issues Reappear On Agenda Of WTO Talks 14/10/2005 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Intellectual property issues resurfaced on the agenda of the preparatory talks for the December World Trade Organization ministerial as they were mentioned at the meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) in Geneva on 13 October. No specific proposals were put forward but WTO Director General Pascal Lamy and some member governments expressed the expectation […]
Interview With WIPO Deputy Director General Rita Hayes 10/10/2005 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Member governments of the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation at their 26 September to 5 October General Assemblies agreed on a way to proceed with negotiations for a treaty on broadcasters’ rights. They will prepare a “basic proposal,” or draft negotiating text, during 2006 with an eye toward holding a high-level negotiation, known as a […]
U.S. Patent Reform Effort Narrowed in Congress; Could Resurface In Supreme Court 29/09/2005 by Sarah Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Sarah Lai Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch A wall of opposition from the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and independent inventor communities this year gutted some of the most controversial provisions from an ambitious patent reform bill introduced in July in the U.S. House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress. But one of the […]
Failure Of Patent Harmonisation Not Critical For WIPO, Official Says 07/09/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Failure to get agreement on a proposal to harmonise national patent laws by World Intellectual Property Organisation members will not impact the functioning and credibility of the organisation, a top WIPO official said today. Failure to agree “is not necessarily the end of the world for WIPO,” Francis Gurry, WIPO deputy director general, said in […]
Push For IP Deals Continues In Lead-Up To WTO Ministerial 09/08/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Issues under negotiation at the World Trade Organization committee responsible for intellectual property issues are somewhat stalled, despite – or because of – their ties to broader issues being negotiated at the WTO, sources in Geneva say. It remains to be seen which, if any, intellectual property-related issues end up being negotiated at the December […]