WIPO Works On Its Development Agenda Implementation This Week 22/11/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Members of the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization this week are in discussions on how to ensure that WIPO activities are development-oriented. A particular focus will be the implementation of a Development Agenda coordination mechanism approved at the last session in May. Also new on the table this week is an agenda item on development-related issues and a proposal for a new project on cooperation between developing countries.
Making The Case For Responsible Science For A Safe Environment 19/11/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Innovation or “jugaad” has always driven the Indian economy. However, the last decade has been witness to an emerging paradigm shift to high-quality value-added innovation, writes industry lawyer Sunita K. Sreedharan.
US FDA’s Tough Road Ahead In Creating Pathway For Life-Saving Biologics 07/11/2010 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The US Food and Drug Administration heard from myriad pharmaceutical companies, patient groups, and other stakeholders last week as the agency considers how to create an abbreviated pathway to bring more biologic drugs to market.
Sharing US Drug Patents with Neglected Patients: A Scientist’s View 05/11/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment “Instead of re-hashing old debates about patents, patients and profits, forward-looking pharmaceutical executives should consider new ways of ensuring that medicines reach all patients who need them,” writes John Erickson, one of the researchers who discovered the HIV medicine recently licensed by the National Institutes of Health to the Medicines Patent Pool.
Compromise UN Protocol Treaty Against Biopiracy Adopted In Japan 29/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 10 Comments With a standing ovation in the early hours of the morning of Saturday, in Nagoya, Japan, an international instrument aimed at preventing misappropriation of genetic resources was adopted by members of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The protocol is also intended to ensure that benefits accrued from the use of those genetic resources are shared equitably with the provider country.
TRIPS Council Discusses Efficacy Of ACTA, Public Health Amendment 29/10/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments A substantive review of a rarely-used amendment to the World Trade Organization intellectual property rules and enforcement trends that may threaten multilateral trade system topped the agenda this week in the Council on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Big Pharma Stranglehold: Thwarting India As Independent Maker Of Blockbuster HIV Drugs? 28/10/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Daniele Dionisio writes: The current break-through of multinational drug corporations in India couples with the protectionist policies pursued by the US and EU and with India’s obligations as a WTO member. Taken together, these realities mean a heavy threat to India’s freedom as independent provider of lifesaving, affordable and state-of-the-art antiretroviral medicines to the resource-limited countries.
Ministers Arrive To Help Reach Outcome At UN Convention On Biodiversity 27/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment As ministers arrived in Nagoya, Japan, for the high-level segment of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity today, negotiators kept trying to reach consensus on remaining agenda items, such as a strategic plan, or an international legal instrument to prevent biopiracy and ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits accrued from the use of genetic resources.
Biodiversity Benefit-Sharing Treaty Negotiators Tackle New Text As Clock Ticks 26/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Another grace period has been given to negotiators trying feverishly to find agreement this week in Nagoya, Japan on an international instrument protecting countries against unlawful appropriation of their genetic resources and ensuring the fair sharing of benefits arising from the use of those resources. The delegates are to present their text Wednesday to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting so that it can be approved by ministers.
Protocol on ABS Could Further Impoverish Indigenous Peoples, Groups Claim 26/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Indigenous peoples today walked out of the ongoing negotiations at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, according to an indigenous representative. Indigenous Peoples are being left with a bitter taste from the draft text of a protocol intended to protect against misappropriation of genetic resources and ensure the sharing of the benefits which arise from use of those resources under discussion by negotiators who may not hold the views of those peoples. The latest version of the draft protocol was issued today