UN Agency Ties Fraudulent Pharmaceuticals To Organised Crime In West Africa 26/02/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A United Nations agency has linked shipments of fraudulent pharmaceuticals with cocaine trafficking and smuggling of migrants as illegal activities carried out by transnational organised crime syndicates that are contributing to instability in West Africa.
WIPO Blind Treaty Text Shapes Up On Last Day; More Drafting In April 23/02/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A week of arduous negotiations and doubts at the World Intellectual Property Organization about progress on a text to become a treaty for the benefit of visually impaired people was concluded positively yesterday with a sigh of relief by most delegations, and observers. A new text was issued and even though most deemed that crucial issues were addressed, some are outstanding and delegates will meet again in April to continue their drafting efforts.
WIPO Treaty For The Blind: Rightsholders Seek Safeguards, Civil Society Seeks Real Access 21/02/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments While country delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization are working to find consensus on a text to become a treaty for the benefit of blind and visually impaired people, industry and non-governmental organisations are pushing their agendas.
WIPO Negotiations: Latest Text Of Treaty For The Blind Is Short On Progress 21/02/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A new version of a text to become a treaty facilitating access to books and information for blind and visually impaired people was issued this morning at the World Intellectual Property Organization amidst concerns that a lot of ground still needs to be covered before the end of the meeting.
Blind Treaty Discussions Could Wander, All Sides Ask For Focus 20/02/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Consensus remains elusive for World Intellectual Property Organization trying to prepare a text for final negotiations on an international instrument facilitating access to books and information to blind people, and some countries are growing concerned.
Closed Discussions At WIPO On Treaty For Blind, As New Text Emerges 19/02/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization working to clean the text of a potential treaty facilitating access to books for visually impaired people produced a new version this morning.
Indian Users’ Perspective On WIPO Negotiations On Treaty For Visually Impaired 16/02/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment South-East Asia is host to one-third of the world’s 39 million blind people. Over 20 million live in India alone. This week’s special session of the World Intellectual Property Organization aims to clean up the text of an international treaty to facilitate access to books for the blind and visually impaired community. It is thus of prime importance for India, and some there worry that issues such as commercial availability could undermine the treaty’s effectiveness.
WIPO Delegates To Clean Text Of Blind Treaty Before Diplomatic Conference In June 15/02/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Hopes of the visually impaired community were rewarded in December when the World Intellectual Property Organization delegates agreed on a high level meeting anticipated to agree on a treaty providing exceptions to copyright facilitating access to books in special formats for blind and visually impaired people. However some outstanding issues remain and delegates will try to find consensus next week.
Letter Shows US Pressure On Global Fund For Compulsory Licensing, Generics 12/02/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A 2011 letter from the top Republican on the United States Senate Finance Committee condemned efforts by the Global Fund to train public health officials on the use of flexibilities to the patent system contained in international trade rules. The letter, which also attacked the purchase of generic medicines over brand-name drugs, came just months before the US helped remove the head of the Global Fund, ultimately replacing him with an American official.
Genetic Origin In Food And Agriculture Difficult To Identify, Say Seed Treaty Officials 08/02/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Global food security lies in the capacity to access and contribute to a wide pool of genetic material, the chair of the United Nations treaty on plant genetic material said on the margin of this week’s World Intellectual Property Organization meeting on the protection of genetic resources. But the origin of this genetic material is often impossible to determine, particularly for crops, the treaty secretary said.