Breakdown In WIPO Patent Committee Could Symbolise Deeper Differences 01/02/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment No agreement could be reached at last week’s meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on patents, a sign of still-deep rifts in what countries want from the global patent system.
UN Human Rights Body Examines WIPO Development Agenda, Tech Transfer, WHO 29/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A high-level task force on the right to development last week released two new reports at the United Nations, the results of technical missions to the World Intellectual Property Organization on its Development Agenda and to the World Health Organization on its strategy on intellectual property.
Latest WIPO Draft Shows Options For Work Programme On Patents 28/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch and William New Leave a Comment The latest available text on future work at the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on the Law of Patents is available from the IP Watch website. The draft emerged this evening.
Year Ahead: Key Year For Biodiversity, Environment, Food Security, Traditional Knowledge 28/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Access and benefit sharing will top agendas at several different intergovernmental bodies this year on issues of biodiversity, environment, food security and traditional knowledge, and stakeholders will be watching the movement across fora of emerging models and potential pitfalls from parallel negotiations.
New Parliament Group Monitors EU Trade Pacts’ Impact On Poor’s Medicines Access 28/01/2010 by David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment BRUSSELS – Trade agreements must not contain clauses on intellectual property rights that could imperil the poor’s access to affordable medicines, a veteran member of the European Parliament (MEP) has said.
WIPO Patent Committee Prepares To Discuss Future Work Programme 27/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization patent committee this week are focussed on a series of new studies, though one of the more difficult issues on the table – exceptions and limitations to patent law – will not be substantively dealt with until the next meeting in October. Discussions on future work for the committee, with a proposal on the table from Brazil for a new work programme on exceptions and limitations, are soon to begin and are likely to be the most difficult topic of the week.
2010 US Industry Group Priorities: Patent Reform, USPTO Funds, Genes, Green Tech 26/01/2010 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Along with a domestic agenda that includes patent reform and improving the efficiency of the US Patent and Trademark Office, the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) this year also is eyeing issues at the international level, such as genetic resources, environmental technologies and international patent harmonisation.
Biodiversity ‘EcoChic’ At UN: “Organic, Fair Trade, And Damn Sexy” 22/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Biodiversity preservation is getting a makeover, or so hope the organisers of an “EcoChic” event at the Palais de Nations yesterday. Attendees strategised about how the fickle spirit of fashion might be harnessed to support the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s access and benefit-sharing regime and sustainability goals, as staff carefully anchored helium-filled white lanterns above a normally staid conference chamber and participants balanced on noticeably higher heels than normally seen in UN corridors.
Chan Launches Inquest On Leaked WHO Documents; Meetings Proposed On R&D Expert Report 20/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments The first public discussion of an expert report on how to finance the often costly process of research and development to create new medicines, vaccines and diagnostics needed by the poor to address diseases that disproportionately effect them began this week at the World Health Organization. There were immediate concerns about the last-minute release of the report’s full text and concerns from several governments that it came up short on critical areas, and it was decided that an informal consultation process will take place over the next few months. Meanwhile, World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan said she has already begun an investigation to find out who leaked drafts of the expert group’s work to an international industry group in December.
Governments Scrutinise WHO On Pandemic Response, R&D Finance Group 18/01/2010 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Health Organization today declared it will launch a review of the global – including its own – response to the H1N1 swine influenza epidemic, as questions swirl around whether the UN agency trumped up the importance of H1N1. The WHO also faces charges this week that it has acted without transparency and inclusiveness in leading a process to find alternative financing for research and development into medicines for diseases occurring predominately in developing countries.