Interview With WIPO Director General Francis Gurry On New WIPO Treaty 27/06/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With this week’s agreement in Marrakesh, Morocco on an international treaty to ease cross-border access for the blind to copyrighted books, the UN World Intellectual Property Organization has completed its second treaty in the past 12 months – with more potentially on the way. WIPO Director General Francis Gurry sat down with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez in Morocco hours after the treaty text was agreed by WIPO members to discuss what it means.
Miracle à Marrakech: un traité “historique” pour les déficients visuels 27/06/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Marrakech, Maroc – L’ambiance était à la fête au Palais des Congrès de Marrakech pour acclamer le succès des négociateurs de l’Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle dans leur tentative de produire un projet de texte consensuel. Après un début de semaine difficile, les efforts des délégués ont été couronnés de succès et les couloirs du Palais des Congrès résonnaient le 25 juin de clameurs joyeuses et d’éloges. Des larmes de joies étaient versées tandis que cette victoire était collectivement acclamée comme un accord historique. Les déficients visuels et la société civile qui les soutenait étaient euphoriques, certains se déclarant dépassés par l’ampleur de la réussite.
WIPO Treaty For The Blind Shows That Transparency Can Work (And Is Necessary) 26/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Prof. Sean Flynn writes that the transparency in the breakthrough agreement on an international treaty for the visually impaired in Morocco is a lesson for trade negotiators who encounter difficulties after keeping trade agreement texts secret until negotiations are over, such as in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).
Medicines Patent Pool Signs New Licence Agreements 26/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Medicines Patent Pool, Shilpa Medicare, and Gilead Sciences have signed an agreement to increase access to HIV treatment medicines. The agreement will allow Shilpa Medicare to manufacture “five key HIV medicines for sale in 100-112 countries,” and the goal is to cover “a majority of people living with HIV.”
Miracle In Marrakesh: “Historic” Treaty For Visually Impaired Agreed 26/06/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 38 Comments Marrakesh, Morocco – The mood was one of celebration at the Marrakesh Palais des Congrès to greet the success of World Intellectual Property Organization negotiators in their attempt to produce a draft treaty text showing consensus. After a difficult start to the week, delegates achieved success and the corridors of the conference centre echoed with laughter and congratulations. Tears of joy were shed as most celebrated this as an historic agreement. Visually impaired people and civil society supporting them were ecstatic, some said overwhelmed.
UNAIDS Reports Sharp Drop In New HIV Infections In Some African Countries 26/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Since 2009, seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa have reduced new HIV infections among children by 50 percent, and others have made significant progress, according to a new report by UNAIDS. But efforts in some countries have stalled, it said.
Expectations High As End Of Substantive Negotiations Near For Blind Treaty Negotiators 25/06/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Marrakesh, Morocco – Today is the day for World Intellectual Property Organization negotiators to find consensus on longstanding issues and come up with language that can satisfy all countries’ concerns on a treaty, the first of its kind, that would provide copyright exceptions for visually impaired people to have wider access to books worldwide.
New Draft Text Shows Progress On WIPO Treaty On Books For The Print-Disabled 25/06/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Marrakesh, Morocco – Negotiators were still hard at work here at press time trying to reach the deadline of tomorrow set by the president of the diplomatic conference, to get agreed language to a drafting committee tasked with delivering a treaty text. The treaty is intended to confer on visually impaired people a wider access to books by providing exceptions to copyrighted works in special format.
South Africa A Leader In Renewable Energy, Lagging In IP Rights 24/06/2013 by Linda Daniels for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Leader of the newly formed Renewables Club and rated as a world leader in the green energy race, South Africa has done little to secure this advantage with intellectual property rights of its own.
WIPO Negotiators Reach Breakthrough On “3-Step Test” In Treaty For Blind 24/06/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 11 Comments Marrakesh, Morocco – A breakthrough was reached over the weekend in the World Intellectual Property Organization negotiations to provide more access to visually impaired people, according to participating sources. Agreement appears to have been struck on the controversial issue of restrictions to the exceptions to copyright that the treaty is proposing to establish.