WHO: Too Few Countries Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance; Global Action Plan Advocates Equitable Access 29/04/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The World Health Organization released a report today on countries’ response to the global declining effect of antibiotics on bacteria and microbes, heightened by overuse or misuse of those products. Next month the World Health Assembly will consider a draft global action plan to fight the problem, which includes suggestions for sustainable investment in the area such as de-linking research from price and sales, as well as equitable access to new products.
UAEM Grades US Universities On Research For Neglected Diseases. Spoiler Alert – There’s Room For Improvement 24/04/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Universities play an enormous role in biomedical research in the United States, but are not doing all they can to advance research for neglected diseases or make their innovations available to people who need them most, the student groupUniversities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) said this week. UAEM released the results of its second annual […]
Largest Internet Exchange Point Announces Complaint Against Snooping 24/04/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments MUNICH – It was a big day for counter-surveillance yesterday. Decix, the largest internet traffic exchange point (IXP) worldwide, announced it has had it with the snoops. Meanwhile, the Inquiry Committee came to the conclusion that the BND had withheld information from its oversight bodies on how broad the tapping really was. Separately, a two-part report presented to the LIBE Committee of the Parliament in Brussels focused on potential countermeasures to the “fact” of mass surveillance by intelligence agencies. And a resolution on mass surveillance was passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE).
Divide And Conquer: The New US Strategy To Disentangle The TPP Negotiations 23/04/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Burcu Kilic & Pablo Viollier write: Political leaders in Washington and other Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiating countries have set the end of May as the latest deadline for completion of the talks. The negotiations have already missed several such deadlines, so who really knows? No one. But there is something we all know: TPP raises significant concerns because negotiations are being held behind closed doors with details kept secret even from the legislatures in TPP countries.
UN Expert Says Secret Trade Negotiations A Threat To Human Rights 23/04/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 7 Comments The United Nations independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order raised concerns over the lack of awareness about the negative effects that free trade and investment agreements have on human rights, especially in developing countries. The Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Alfred de […]
Update On Yale/IP-Watch Effort To Open TPP Texts 21/04/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Intellectual Property Watch has been working for several years to obtain more details about the intellectual property aspects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiations through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and a subsequent lawsuit to enforce that request, which is being led by a team at the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School (MFIA). Today MFIA, a program of Yale’s Information Society Project and Abrams Institute, released an update on the case.
WHO Reviews Its Essential Medicines List; Some New Candidates Under Patent 21/04/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Health Organization is reviewing its list of essential medicines this week. Over 70 candidate medicines are expected to be assessed by an Expert Committee. Some of those medicines are under patent and highly priced, which poses an accessibility challenge.
WHO Opens Its Database Of Medicines Side Effects To The Public 20/04/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Health Organization has announced that its Global Medicines Safety Database is now open to the general public. The database named VigiAccess can now be accessed on any computer or smartphone in the world.
German Big Brother Awards To German Secret Service, Interior Minister, And Barbie 20/04/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Mattel’s and Toytalks’ “Hello Barbie” Friday night received a Big Brother Award in Germany. The US doll found itself in illustrious company for the negative privacy award with two German Ministers of the Interior, a Minister of Health, several Amazon ventures and Elance-O-Desk. The Organization Digital Courage has handed out the awards since 2000.
Wave Of Protests Against TTIP, CETA, TISA 19/04/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A wave of protest marches and information events against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA), and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) yesterday swept across Europe, the US, Canada and number of other countries. On the eve of the 9th TTIP negotiation round set for New York (20-24 April), thousands took to the streets in the European capitals of London, Brussels and Helsinki.