Vaccines In Middle-Income Countries, Non-Communicable Diseases Discussed At WHO 21/01/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Availability and accessibility of vaccines in middle-income countries was raised today at the World Health Organization as member states are ploughing through a heavy agenda. Noncommunicable diseases were also discussed and delegates sitting on the Executive Board agreed on a formal meeting before the next World Health Assembly to complete terms of reference for a global coordination mechanism to prevent and control the growing epidemic.
WHO Executive Board Opens With Overcrowded Agenda; Chan Calls For Focus 20/01/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Health Organization Executive Board opened this morning with a packed agenda, which prompted the chair to warn participants to restrict their statements. Director General Margaret Chan described as problematic the temptation to address all public health issues, and encouraged member states to focus on strategic and selective goals. Member countries also expressed concerns about the length of the agenda.
WHO Board To Discuss Relationship With Industry, Organisations 18/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Health Organization has been soul-searching for several years since running into deep debt and seeing private organisations gather influence in global public health policy. Next week, the WHO Board will consider a proposal on how to allow the intergovernmental body work with such organisations and industry without giving up its own independence and oversight role.
India: The Full Spectrum On FDI In Brownfield Companies 17/01/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment DG Shah writes: Acquisition of brownfield, or existing, pharmaceutical companies may be seen in different perspectives as greenfield, or new, projects are permitted 100% equity via the automatic route. India has sought FDI mainly to bridge the shortfall in investment or to facilitate the flow of know-how and technology. We must first assess the need of the pharma sector and then evaluate whether mere change of ownership would meet its needs.
Successful WHO Drug Prequalification Programme Deemed At Risk 16/01/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A 12-year-old World Health Organization programme for prequalifying medical products has helped international organisations and others to safely purchase billions of US dollars’ worth of quality medicines per year, but now is at risk due to funding shortages, a new study released today found.
WHO Initiative On Poor Quality Medicines Heads To Board Next Week 15/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment World Health Organization member governments have been working for several years to agree on ways to prevent the spread of dangerous and misleading substandard and fake medical products. Now, they seem to be moving in the direction of concrete action.
UN Office On Drugs And Crime Launches Anti-Counterfeit Campaign Aimed At Organised Crime 14/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today launched a major awareness-raising campaign against trafficking in counterfeit goods, which it said is a major revenue source for organised crime worldwide: $250 billion per year.
Departed Indian Diplomat Confronted US Business Over India’s IP Policy 12/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Just weeks before being abruptly arrested and strip-searched in New York, a now-departed Indian diplomat took on the powerful US business lobby over India’s controversial approach to intellectual property.
Top IP-Watch Stories Of 2013: India, Marrakesh Treaty, Seed/Gene Patents, WIPO Election 09/01/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Looking back on 2013, the list of the most-viewed stories on the Intellectual Property Watch website shows that reporting on activities in India, especially related to patents and public health, continued to draw the most attention. Other top stories were the Marrakesh Treaty on copyright exceptions for blind readers, legal cases involving patents on seeds and on plant and human genes, the election for World Intellectual Property Organization director general, free-trade agreements (including the Wikileaks leak of the IP chapter of the Trans-Atlantic Partnership agreement), Russian copyrights, and 3D printing.
Global Pharma, Biopharma Patent Laws In Spotlight At CPhI’s Pharma IPR Conference in India 08/01/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An upcoming conference in Mumbai, India will look at patent laws related to the pharmaceutical and biopharma industries regionally and internationally. CPhI’s 3rd Annual Pharma IPR 2014, taking place from 26-28 February, is a targeted conference focusing on patent related matters for pharma and biopharma industry across the globe. It is intended to provide an ideal learning and networking platform where techno-legal experts from patent law firms across the globe share an update on patent regimes, changes in patent laws, and enforceability of patent laws in different regions with the pharma and biopharma companies. The conference agenda will cover most debated subjects like: inter-partes review; one year after the implementation of the America Invents Act; reverse payments settlements cases; current implementation of the Unitary Patent System in the EU; and formulating strategies to introduce generic products in international markets. The programme will cover patent laws of over 13 regions including the US, EU, Japan, Mexico, Canada, India, South East Asia, and Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries. Click here to view the region-wise agenda. Free download for IP-Watch Readers! Click here to view presentations from 2013!