New Proposal At WIPO SCCR To Explore Use Of Copyrighted Works In Digital Environment 02/12/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Latin American and Caribbean countries have tabled a new proposal for next week’s meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on copyright. The proposal calls for analysing copyright related to the digital environment.
German Intelligence Services Oversight Body Files Action Against Government 02/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment For the first time in its history, the G10 Commission, an oversight body over the German Intelligence Services, will go to court to challenge decisions by the German government and the services, German Public Broadcasting and the Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed last night.
Impact Of The TPP On The Pharma Industry 02/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership confirms beyond doubt the apprehensions expressed by civil society, academia and the generic industry about new barriers to access to medicines. The TPP has done away with several flexibilities provided under the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration on Public Health. Though the text mentions “nothing in this [IPR] Chapter limits a Party’s rights and obligations under Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement,” the TPP Investment Chapter overrides these flexibilities, says D G Shah.
ARIPO Continues To Build Member State IP Capacities 02/12/2015 by Hillary Muheebwa for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) recently held two top organ meetings in Lusaka, Zambia, to debate the organisation’s strategic plan for 2016-2020.
European Court Of Human Rights Finds Turkey Violated Freedom Of Expression In YouTube Blocking 01/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Ten sites allegedly disrespectful to Kemal Attaturk, founder of modern Turkey, were enough for the courts in Turkey to ban a whole platform – YouTube – from 2008 until the end of 2010. But a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights today declared the blanket blocking a violation of the right to receive and impart information freely, protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
US Congressional Study Finds Excessive Profit-Seeking In USD84K Hepatitis Drug Sovaldi 01/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Two bipartisan United States senators today released the results of an 18-month investigation into the US$84,000 price of the Sovaldi hepatitis C drug, finding the pricing and marketing strategy was aimed at maximizing revenue at the expense of access and affordability. The new report also shows the high impact on US government drug procurement programs and other data.
Ebola Vaccine Team Welcomes New UK R&D Financing, Expects Governments To Join In 01/12/2015 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Having led the successful collaborative testing of an Ebola-vaccine in record time, John-Arne Røttingen of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health now wants to expand the idea to a permanent global financing facility for research and development. And he is optimistic.
Medicines Patent Pool Partners with Liverpool University On HIV Nanomedicines 01/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Medicines Patent Pool has signed a collaborative agreement with the University of Liverpool to develop HIV nanomedicines.
Flexibility In The TPP Statutory Damages Provision 01/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Jonathan Band writes: During the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, many concerns were voiced about how TPP would mandate adoption of US-style statutory damages. Under the US Copyright Act, a court can award damages of up to $30,000 per work infringed, which can be ratcheted up to $150,000 per work infringed in cases of willful infringement. Scholars have found that statutory damages in the US have discouraged investment in innovative technologies while incentivizing the emergence of copyright trolls. So how bad is the statutory damages provision in the final TPP agreement?
WIPO Patent Law Committee Looks At Access To Medicines, Confidentiality 30/11/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on patent law is meeting this week, including a half-day seminar on the relationship between patent systems and the availability of medicines in developing countries and least-developed countries.