World Health Assembly: Drafting Group Agrees On Health R&D Meeting Proposal 25/05/2013 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment An informal drafting group finalised a text today, proposing to convene a technical meeting to help identify new health research and development projects for diseases that primarily affect poor communities.
WIPO Members Debate Reduction Of PCT Fees; Send Back PPH Proposal 25/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) met this week to discuss possible amendments to the regulations under the treaty. Among issues discussed were possible fee reductions, the proposed formal integration of the Patent Prosecution Highway into the treaty, and the coordination of technical assistance under the treaty.
World Health Assembly: Members Debate US Proposed Advisory Meeting On Health R&D 24/05/2013 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Taking the World Health Assembly by surprise, the US delegation today made a proposal to advance progress on the monitoring, coordination, and financing of health R&D in committee discussions today. Their suggestion to convene an advisory meeting is being discussed in an informal drafting group in a side room. The committee has adjourned until Monday, but the drafting group will continue over the weekend.
At WTO, LDC Fight For Extension Of TRIPS Transition Continues 24/05/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Over the past week or so, least-developed country (LDC) members of the World Trade Organization have held their own in a closed room with the world’s biggest economies as they worked out details of a request by the LDCs to extend the deadline by which they must enforce WTO intellectual property rules.
World Health Assembly: Groups Seek To Return Focus To ‘Broken’ Medical R&D System 24/05/2013 by Brittany Ngo for Intellectual Property Watch and William New Leave a Comment The issue of access to medicines is on the agenda at this week’s World Health Assembly (WHA) and public health advocates are seeking greater clarity and detail about the latest member state effort to address failings in the global system of research and development for medical products.
EPO Still Granting Patents On Conventional Vegetables; ‘Just Following Rules’ 24/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The European Patent Office is continuing to grant patents on conventional plants despite demands from the European Parliament and the German Parliament that the patent office refrain from granting such patents, the coalition of non-governmental organisations called “No patents on seeds” said in a release.
EU Parliament Backs Start Of Transatlantic FTA Negotiations 23/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Parliament today voted in favour of a resolution welcoming the start of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). With 460 votes in favour, 105 against – mainly the Green Party Group and the Left – and 28 abstentions, the resolution passed after a heated debate Wednesday night. The majority allowed for the flexibility asked for by EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht in the debate but nevertheless requested to “exclude cultural and audiovisual services, including those provided online.”
World Health Assembly: Draft Of NCD Action Plan Shows Compromises On IPRs 23/05/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Negotiators worked late last night to reach some compromise on the intellectual property-related component of the emerging World Health Organization action plan on noncommunicable diseases.
World Health Assembly: Drafting Group Progressing On NCDs 22/05/2013 by Brittany Ngo for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Members of the World Health Organization this week have made noncommunicable diseases a top priority, and work on a draft resolution and action plan is being carried out by a drafting group that will report back later in the week.
Special Report: Big Trading Blocs Moving At Breakneck Pace To Raise Free Trade Standards 22/05/2013 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The pace to negotiate bilateral or plurilateral free trade agreements has been accelerating rapidly over the last month as the big trading blocs seem eager to position themselves in the race for market access and standards. China, Japan and Korea in March hurried to open their first official round of negotiations (CJK), just in time to edge ahead of Japan’s joining the negotiations of an enlarged Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and also ahead of the official start of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) announced by the European Union and the United States earlier this year. Meanwhile, a concerned Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rushed to counter these ventures with their own competitive bid by starting detailed talks on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in Brunei Daressalam.