Nearly 100 Organisations Press For Better Medicines Access In Asian Region RCEP Agreement 19/10/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Nearly 100 health, community and development organisations working in the Asia-Pacific region issued a call for trade ministers negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement to “reject provisions that would negatively affect access to generic medicines.” Negotiators are meeting from 17-22 October in China, and the concern is about the intellectual property chapter of the deal.
Eli Lilly Commits To Healthcare For 30 Million People In Middle-Income Countries And US By 2030 18/10/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly today announced a stepped-up commitment to provide improved access to quality healthcare for 30 million people in resource-limited settings by 2030.
WIPO Wants Its Pro Bono Patent Lawyer Scheme To Aid Developing Countries’ Inventors 18/10/2016 by Peter Kenny for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Imagine you’re an inventor in the Philippines and want to file a patent for, say, a fishing implement you’ve invented, but your $9,000 a year income thwarts your ability to pay the legal fees to register it and develop it commercially. You could be stumped from the start.
EPO Staff Welcome Withdrawal Of Unpopular Disciplinary Proposals 18/10/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Pressure from staff and now from members of the European Patent Office governing body has forced EPO President Benoît Battistelli to withdraw controversial proposals for disciplining and investigating employees, the Staff Union of the EPO (SUEPO) said on 17 October. The action was welcomed but the situation is far from resolved, staff members say.
CETA Still Not At Finish Line As Belgian State Halts Process 18/10/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments CETA, the Canada-Europe trade agreement, is still not at the finish line yet. The European Commission has all but one member state on board for the signature of the Comprehensive Economy and Trade Agreement (CETA), Slovak Economy Minister Peter Ziga said today after a meeting of the trade ministers of the EU member states.
WHO Pandemic Influenza Advisory Group Meeting In Secret This Week 18/10/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Health Organization pandemic influenza framework advisory group is meeting this week, behind closed doors. A consultation is expected to take place on 20 October with stakeholders, and an information session has been organised on 21 October on the work of the advisory group, but no press is allowed in either meeting nor able to obtain any information about any aspect of the week’s events.
55 Civil Society Groups Ask US Government To Allow Export Of Affordable Version Of Prostate Cancer Drug Xtandi 17/10/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A range of 55 civil society organisations from around the world today sent a letter asking the United States Department of Health and Human Services to accept an offer from a Canadian generics company, Biolyse Pharma, to manufacture and export high-priced cancer drug Xtandi to countries with a per capita income of less than one-third that of the United States.
USTR Froman: ‘We Have Begun A New Chapter In The History Of The Multilateral Trading System’ 17/10/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Outgoing United States Trade Representative Michael Froman in Geneva today gave a look back and ahead for the multilateral trading system and the World Trade Organization. His prediction was pragmatic and optimistic.
FTC Recommends Legislative Fixes For Nuisance Patent Lawsuits But Some Question Study 17/10/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment LONDON — Procedural and substantive legislative reforms are needed to keep nuisance patent infringement lawsuits at bay, the United States Federal Trade Commission said in an October report. The question is whether the size of the study on activities of “patent assertion entities” (PAEs) was large enough to prove there’s a problem, say some patent attorneys, including speakers at the 13-14 October London IP Summit.
Panel: WIPO Assistance Should Provide Developing Countries With Choices On Plant Variety Protection 17/10/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A side event to last week’s annual General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization looked at ways for developing countries to design sui generis system for protecting new varieties of plant. The event also looked into the technical assistance provided by WIPO, which, according to the groups, focuses only on the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) system.