CBO: Generics Bill Would Save US $4.8 Billion 09/11/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The US Congressional Budget Office has estimated that a current bill to prevent brand-name pharmaceutical companies from paying generic producers to delay the release of generic drugs into the market could save the US budget some $4.8 billion over 10 years. The bill would treat “pay-for-delay” arrangements as illegal and would give the authority to […]
The Mad Hatter In Wonderland: South Africa’s New TK Bill 08/11/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 9 Comments So, the Department of Trade and Industry (“DTI”) has finally gone ahead and done it. It has caused the South African Government to pass the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill (the so-called “Traditional Knowledge Bill”) despite vociferous objections from all quarters. It has rushed headlong into terrain where no angel would venture through acute trepidation. It has entered Wonderland and assumed the role of the Mad Hatter, writes Professor Owen Dean.
Medicines Patent Pool Responds To Critics Of Gilead Licence 08/11/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Medicines Patent Pool, which aims to increase access to affordable, high-quality medicines for HIV/AIDS patients in low and middle income countries, has issued a response to concerns about its recent deal with a large pharmaceutical company.
WHO Board Backs Reform Plan For UN Agency 04/11/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The UN World Health Organization Executive Board today approved a set of proposals for reform put forward by WHO Director General Margaret Chan and member states, authorising her to take immediate action. The WHO is undergoing a major reform process fueled by a funding shortage and changes in the global public health structure.
US Patent Commissioner Stoll To Retire; Deputy Focarino To Step Up 02/11/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Robert Stoll, the Commissioner for Patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has announced his retirement on 31 December 2011. Deputy Commissioner for Patents Margaret “Peggy” Focarino will be nominated to replace him, USPTO said today.
USPTO, Small Businesses Talk Patent Reform, Harmonisation, Fee Diversion 02/11/2011 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is working to ensure small businesses and independent inventors have the tools they need to obtain, protect and enforce their patents overseas, as well as domestically, in the wake of patent reform legislation enacted in the United States. Meanwhile, the office is also stepping up global patent harmonisation efforts.
WIPO Talks On Industrial Design Treaty, Internet Intermediaries, Suspended Till 2012 02/11/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A meeting on trademarks and industrial designs at the World Intellectual Property Organization was cut short by an electrical fire last week. Before the unexpected interruption, delegates advanced work on a possible treaty on industrial designs and discussed the role and responsibility of internet intermediaries in the field of trademarks.
WHO’s Chan Pitches UN Agency’s “Staying Power,” Unique Role 01/11/2011 by William New and Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan today made a strident pitch to WHO member governments to invest in the well-known United Nations agency, citing several unique and essential aspects of the organisation. The WHO Executive Board is meeting this week to address major reform of the WHO, in part due to a severe funding shortage but reaching into its place in the global public health spectrum.
WHO Group Agrees On New Mechanism To Fight Poor-Quality Medicines 01/11/2011 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The World Health Organization-led working group of member states addressing “substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit” (SSFFC) medical products has reached consensus on a new mechanism to prevent and control SSFFC medical products and associated activities. The creation of the new mechanism comes as the future of WHO involvement in an interagency anti-counterfeiting taskforce is in question.
Tech Industry Sees Harm To Internet In US “Rogue Website” Bill 01/11/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments Trade associations representing US technology industry interests this week attacked a new House of Representatives bill aimed at fighting so-called “rogue” websites, calling it “an alarming step backwards in internet policy” that would create “a thicket of internet regulations containing 16 new legal definitions for evolving internet technology.”