World Health Organization working documents are now available online here. The documents for the first time reveal details of the working process of an expert working group (EWG) tasked with finding innovative solutions to finance research and development on drugs for neglected diseases. Governments concerned about the transparency of the EWG told the WHO in […]

The latest text of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) reflecting the late June – early July negotiations in Lucerne, Switzerland has allegedly been leaked, just after being placed in a secret reading room for the European Parliament (IPW, IP Burble, 14 July 2010). Non-governmental group La Quadrature du Net announced today (Bastille Day) that it […]

Members of the European Parliament will be able to read the current draft of the much-debated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in the “secret reading room” for the Parliament, Green Party Member Jan Philipp Albrecht told Intellectual Property Watch after this week’s committee sessions with EU Commissioner Karel DeGucht. DeGucht reiterated the main commitments about ACTA […]

Health experts of the German Parliament are concerned about possible negative effects of the European Union-India free trade agreement under negotiation. In a letter dated 8 July, the Parliament’s Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development called on the European Commission and the German Government to ensure in the ongoing negotiations “that rules on intellectual property […]

The US Patent and Trademark Office announced today that its draft strategic plan for fiscal year 2010-2015 is available for public review and comment online. The aim of the strategic plan is to focus on patent and trademark quality and enhance the timeliness of both, and to provide “global and domestic leadership to improve intellectual […]

Two not-for-profit drug developers, TB Alliance and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), have created a product development partnership (PDP) in the form of a royalty-free licence agreement intended to drive development of new drugs for several neglected diseases. This is the first such licence between two nonprofit drug developers, they said in a […]

On 1 July, the same day the presidency of the European Patent Office (EPO) transferred to Benoît Battistelli and the EU presidency shifted from Spain to Belgium, the European Commission presented the EPO with a proposal on translation arrangements for patent applications. These arrangements represent the final component for the future EU patent, an enhanced […]

The head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is stepping down after five years in office, and his successor has been named from within the organisation. John Kennedy, chairman and CEO, said he was returning to a longstanding plan to start a “business management-agency business representing talent in the world of music, […]