WIPO Committee Debates SDGs, Review Of Development Agenda Recommendations 01/11/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) is meeting this week with an agenda including the presentation of a first review on how well WIPO implemented its Development Agenda Recommendations from 2008 to 2015. Also on the agenda is a discussion on what United Nations Sustainable Development Goals can be applied to WIPO’s work, and what the role of WIPO is in technology transfer.
Brazil, China, India, South Africa Put UN High-Level Panel On Medicines Access On TRIPS Council Agenda 31/10/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment For next week’s World Trade Organization intellectual property committee meeting, the major developing economies have submitted a request to discuss the recently released report of the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, according to Knowledge Ecology International (KEI). A key element of the UN report was to make it harder for countries deter or discourage other countries from trying to use patent flexibilities built into the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) – something the major developing economies have been discouraged from doing in the past.
Between Quick Wins And Long Roads Ahead On Antimicrobial Resistance 26/10/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Raising awareness, creating effective stewardship, national action plans on antimicrobial resistance, building trust and getting onto the agenda of the G20 are critical to fostering access and appropriate use of antibiotics, according to speakers at yesterday’s joint technical symposium on antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Antimicrobial Resistance Should Not Overshadow Broader Issue Of Access To Medicines, Some Say 26/10/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment While the issue of antimicrobial resistance has arrived in high-level discussions, and there is a consensus that the problem must be tackled one way or another to avoid slipping back into a pre-antibiotic era, some voices are highlighting the need to remember that other health issues remain unmet, and access to medicines is still an acute problem.
Antimicrobial Resistance Needs Research, Regulation, Speakers Say 26/10/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The issue of antimicrobial resistance has been in the spotlight in recent months as a growing awareness of the threat it represents for humanity has pushed discussions at the multilateral level. This week, the World Health Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization and World Trade Organization organised a symposium on the subject. Speakers discussed needs and potential solutions.
WIPO Wants Its Pro Bono Patent Lawyer Scheme To Aid Developing Countries’ Inventors 18/10/2016 by Peter Kenny for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Imagine you’re an inventor in the Philippines and want to file a patent for, say, a fishing implement you’ve invented, but your $9,000 a year income thwarts your ability to pay the legal fees to register it and develop it commercially. You could be stumped from the start.
Panel: WIPO Assistance Should Provide Developing Countries With Choices On Plant Variety Protection 17/10/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A side event to last week’s annual General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization looked at ways for developing countries to design sui generis system for protecting new varieties of plant. The event also looked into the technical assistance provided by WIPO, which, according to the groups, focuses only on the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) system.
WIPO Workshop: African States Are Themselves To Blame, Should Compile, Publicize IP Statistics 10/10/2016 by Hillary Muheebwa for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Each year, the World Intellectual Property Organization Economic and Statistics Division sends out questionnaires, which intellectual property offices worldwide are expected to complete and return.
WIPO Development Agenda Needs More Promotion, Country Involvement, Experts Say 05/10/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Has the adoption of the World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda in 2007 changed the culture of the organisation, and what did it achieve? According to panellists at a side event to this week’s WIPO General Assembly, the Development Agenda has not yet changed the culture of the organisation and its primary focus to support and protect intellectual property. However, WIPO should follow the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and collaborate with other UN agencies to include development consideration in its work, they say.
UNITAID-FIND Partnership To Scale Up Hepatitis C Diagnostics 04/10/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Initiating a new partnership today, global health initiative UNITAID and the non-profit FIND began a project that will work towards the improvement, affordability and availability of diagnostics and treatments for the hepatitis C virus (HCV).