Health: Report Calls For Increased Efforts On TB; WHO Warns About Antibiotic-Resistant Sexually Transmitted Disease 07/07/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Tuberculosis is still a deadly killer, and a new report by two humanitarian organisations raises alarm on poor progress on the disease diagnosis and treatment. The report calls for governments to increase efforts to fight the disease, and for the G20 countries to mobilise funds to help, in particular to boost research and development for new treatments. Separately, the World Health Organization issued a call for new treatments to fight antibiotic resistant gonorrhoea.
G20: Security, Trade, Climate, Trump Diplomacy Overshadow Health, IT, Innovation 07/07/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On the eve of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, German politicians described positions on free trade and climate as the most difficult issues. Expectations from civil society groups in the G20 results are modest at best and the 6 July protest march “Welcome to Hell” was cancelled after clashes between the police and parts of the protestors.
WIPO Patent Law Committee Agrees On Future Work: Exceptions, Quality, Health, Confidentiality, Tech Transfer 06/07/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment General satisfaction was expressed today at the World Intellectual Property Organization as members of the patent law committee agreed on a future work programme. That is an exercise that they could not complete in December 2016. Included in the work programme is a half-day information exchange on cooperation between patent offices on search and examination, a half-day information exchange on publicly accessible databases on medicines and patent information, and a reference document on exceptions and limitations to patent rights.
EU Parliament Adopts Marrakesh Treaty; Blind Union Prepared To Fight Publisher ‘Compensation’ 06/07/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The European Parliament today with over 600 votes adopted the legal instruments to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty on access to reading material for the visually impaired. The treaty, adopted by the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2013 and effective since last year, has been subject of controversies due to lobbying from publishers in the European Union, members of Parliament said today in Strasbourg before the vote. EU member states after today’s vote have one year to implement.
ITU Launches Cybersecurity Index 2017 06/07/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has published the Global Cybersecurity Index 2017 (GCI-2017). The GCI-2017, the second in this index series, measures the commitments of the 193 member states of the ITU to cybersecurity and helps the member states to identify areas for improvement, according to a press release.
KEI Recommends WIPO Study On Running Royalties As Limitation On Remedies 06/07/2017 by Elise De Geyter for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Nonprofit group Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) has requested a study by the World Intellectual Property Organization on the case law of the non-voluntary use of patents as a limitation on remedies, Andrew Goldman, counsel for policy and legal affairs at KEI, said at a side event to a WIPO meeting this week.
WIPO Patent Law Committee Looks At Health, Quality 06/07/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Discussions carried out at the World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee this week reflect strong interest for the subjects but from different angles. Topics such as how patents may affect access to medicines are favoured by some countries, while others view patents as the main enabler of innovative new products. Some find collaborative work between patent offices primordial, while others worry that it could be harmonisation in disguise. Proposals are not lacking about activities to be conducted in the committee but countries need to agree on those which meet their common goals. [Update: the committee finished early with an agreement on future work. Story to come shortly.]
New WHO Director Tedros’s Opening Vision: People First 04/07/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus began his first week as director-general of the UN World Health Organization by addressing the WHO staff with his vision for the organisation and the world. Top of the list? Humanity.
Council Of Europe Report On Copyright Exceptions And Limitations 04/07/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The intergovernmental Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, has published a freely available report on exceptions and limitations to copyright. The report comes as a contribution to the ongoing process of reforming European copyright rules.
IP Law Europe Summit: Future Of Legal Profession In The Digital Age, Unified Patent Court 04/07/2017 by Elise De Geyter for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment MONTREUX — The legal profession is experiencing a “radical change” due to technology, a globally known author told the recent European IP Law Summit in Montreux, Switzerland. Technology has become “affordable” and professions “unaffordable” in a technology-based internet society, he said. Separately, a Belgian appeals court judge laid out details on the Unified Patent Court of Europe.