Access To Affordable Healthcare: A Global Wake-Up Call Fosters Coalition Of The Like-Minded 27/11/2017 by Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NEW DELHI — Few topics in the global health agenda are as contentious as access to affordable medicines and medical care, and expectedly, divergent views permeated the discussions at a high-level conference in New Delhi, India last week. But if there is one thing that the three-day meet made amply clear, it was this: access to affordable healthcare has emerged as a global problem, and an emerging coalition of the like-minded, cutting across the developed and developing countries, is determined to have their voices heard in international policy circles on the issue.
Studies Presented At WIPO To Better Understand Limitations To Copyright 17/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With no consensus on conducting normative work at the World Intellectual Property Organization on the limitations to copyright for certain actors such as persons with disabilities, educational institutions, and museums, the committee on copyright had agreed on several studies so the issues are better understood. This week, several of those studies were presented to the committee and shed some further light on the issues.
Special Report: A Look Behind Hepatitis C Patent Challenges Worldwide 15/11/2017 by Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A case at the High Court in India set for 15 December could decide whether a patent on some of the most important drugs to fight hepatitis C should be removed. It is one of many attempts to challenge patents on hepatitis C drugs in various countries around the world and serves as an opportunity to learn more about the group leading the legal case.
Global Fund Chooses Former UK Banker Peter Sands As New Director 14/11/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today selected Peter Sands, a former bank CEO who is involved in health projects at the World Bank and elsewhere, as its next executive director.
Geneva Buzzing With Ideas And Events For International Entrepreneurship Week 09/11/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A weeklong event next week has been co-organised and sponsored by a number of Geneva actors, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and the University of Geneva, as well as lesser known groups and projects, to celebrate the international week of entrepreneurship.
WHO Issues Guidelines Against Antibiotic Overuse In Farms And Food Industry 07/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Against the growing threat of a world where bacteria can kill again because they have developed resistance to available antibiotics, and the lack of new promising options in the research pipeline, several international agencies are seeking solutions. The World Health Organization today published a set of recommendations to help stop the routine use of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent disease in healthy animals.
The User Rights Database: Measuring The Impact Of Copyright Balance 01/11/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments PIJIP’s Copyright User Rights Database tracks changes to copyright user rights (aka limitations and exceptions) over time in a sample of 21 countries of different development levels. The data assesses the degree to which other countries have adopted exceptions that are as open as the US fair use right – i.e. open to a use of any kind of work, by any kind of user and for any purpose. The instrument and results are available at infojustice.org/survey.
New WHO 5-Year Programme Is Out. In The Recipe? SDGs, Access To Medicines, Innovation, Better Health For All 01/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The new leadership of the World Health Organization today issued its draft new programme of work for the next five years. The programme depicts new orientations for the global health actor, starting with the alignment of the programme with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage. The organisation also commits to help establish policies promoting access to health products, including generic medicines, innovation, and fair pricing. The WHO is set to help address innovation barriers, and to step up its global leadership, but asks that its members actually fully finance the budget that they approve.
Group Of Nations Seeks To Boost Help For Small Companies At WTO 01/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises represent the bulk of the global economic fabric, but they face many impediments to joining the global marketplace. An informal group of countries is bringing the conversation into the World Trade Organization, to see how it can help small companies integrate international trade. They submitted a draft decision for the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference in December. A workshop this week looked at challenges and possible remedies at the national and international level.
E-Commerce Needs Special Rules, WTO The Place For It, Officials Say 31/10/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Electronic commerce is flourishing, but countries are not benefitting equally from this windfall. An event held this week at the World Trade Organization looked at the role of the WTO in the establishment of global rules for e-commerce, while WTO member states themselves disagree on the urgency to establish a new work programme, just weeks before the next WTO ministerial.