WIPO Seminar Discusses Impact Of TRIPS On Pharmaceutical Innovation 19/06/2013 by Brittany Ngo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The latest instalment of the World Intellectual Property Organization seminar series titled “The Economics of Intellectual Property” covered the issue of product patents in the pharmaceutical industry. Discussion focussed on the economics of intellectual property rights and how pharmaceutical patent protection might not be the sole culprit in the access to innovation problem.
US Businesses Launch Coalition For Fair Trade With India 18/06/2013 by Kelly Burke for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A new coalition of United States business groups, called the Alliance for Fair Trade with India (ATFI), launched today to take aim against what they say are discriminatory trade practices in India against US exports.
US Supreme Court Rules On Pharma Payments To Delay Generic Drugs On Market 17/06/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States Supreme Court in a five to three decision today found that settlement agreements by branded pharmaceutical companies involving payments to generic companies to delay their cheaper drugs’ entry into the market may not be immune from antitrust scrutiny but are not “presumptively” unlawful. The case was sent back to lower court.
US Supreme Court Restricts Gene Patents … A Little 17/06/2013 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Last Thursday, the United States Supreme Court overturned more than 30 years of precedents and ruled that isolated genes cannot be patented. They are products of nature and thus not patent-eligible subject matter, the court unanimously held in Assoc. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. This ruling puts the US at odds with most other nations, which allow genes to be patented. But because other major nations grant narrower gene patents, the net effect of Myriad will be to shift the US position on gene patents closer to that of other nations.
At G8: EU, US Kick Off Bilateral Trade Negotiations 17/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment During day one of the Summit of the G8 countries at Lough Erne Golf Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland today, President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and the President of the European Commission, Manuel Barroso, jointly announced the formal start of negotiations of the US-EU free trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Group Of Experts Looks At High Price Of Cancer Drugs 17/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Prices of cancer drugs must be lowered to be affordable for patients and to maintain sound long-term healthcare policies, according to a group of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) experts in a recent Blood journal editorial.
Infojustice: The Topsy-Turvy US International Trade Commission 17/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Infojustice.org examines the evolving responsibilities of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and its decision to bar imports of older Apple iPhones and iPads, finding that they infringed patents held by Samsung.
Controversial Debate On TTIP Mandate In EU Council Of Ministers 14/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment After hours of late night discussion, the European Union Foreign Affairs Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg Friday finally excluded the audiovisual sector from the negotiation mandate for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
WIPO-WTO-WHO Joint Symposium On Medical Innovation In July 14/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Three Geneva-based international organisations are continuing their collaboration on issues of health and innovation policy as it cuts across intellectual property rights by planning a 5 July symposium on “changing business models” in medical innovation.
Myriad Case Decided: Natural Human Genes Not Patentable In US 14/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The United States Supreme Court came to a decision yesterday on the case of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., striking down Myriad’s patent on isolating human genes from the bloodstream.