Infojustice: Trans-Pacific Partnership IP Chapter Stalled 20/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Infojustice.org reports from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in Lima, Peru that the intellectual property chapter shows no sign of resolution and the end of the TPP talks in 2013 is now highly unlikely.
WHO Director Highlights Non-Communicable Diseases, Pandemics; Blasts Industry Counter-Efforts 20/05/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan today had strong messages for the opening day of the annual World Health Assembly: in these rocky times, public health work is a high ground that helps bring security and development, and if you are not doing all you can to advance global health for all, then you are part of the problem. She took a swipe at mega-industries – especially tobacco and junk food – that produce and market unhealthy products and spend heavily to work against effective public health policies.
Conference On Journalism And Health Looks At WHA Issues 20/05/2013 by Brittany Ngo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On the eve of the 66th edition of the World Health Assembly, the World Health Editors Network (WHEN) and the Who’s There? Yes (WTY) convened for a conference on their new Journalism and Health Initiative. The conference, entitled, “Enter the stadium, democratise knowledge, bring it home,” focussed on increasing access and awareness of health policy and problems by the general public.
After Court Ruling, US Still In Disarray On Software Patents 20/05/2013 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments What inventions are eligible for patent protection? That question has roiled the US legal system for the last decade. But the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (often called the nation’s patent court) was supposedly riding to the rescue. The court’s eagerly-awaited en banc decision in CLS Bank Int’l v. Alice Corp. [pdf] was widely expected to clarify the patentability of computer-related inventions, which play a vital role in the US economy. Unfortunately, instead of clarifying the law, the court’s 10 May ruling increased the confusion, casting doubt on more than 300,000 patents – including one-fifth of all patents issued last year.
WIPO Development Committee Ends On Positive Note With Modest Results 18/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments After a week which many World Intellectual Property Organization delegates working on development issues found difficult, a degree of consensus appeared in the last hour late on 17 May. Developing countries’ requests were substantially scaled down as discussions on several areas threatened to be bogged down indefinitely.
WIPO Group To Consider Substantive Amendment To Patent Cooperation Treaty 18/05/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On the agenda of the normally technical World Intellectual Property Organization working group on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) next week is a proposal for an amendment that would incorporate the bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) used by some countries into the PCT. This has stirred concern among countries that are currently outside the PPH system.
WIPO Programmes Seek To Bridge IP And Climate Change, Global Health 17/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization is involved in activities aimed at facilitating technology transfer for green technologies, and research and development for neglected diseases, malaria and tuberculosis. At the request of member states, WIPO’s Global Challenges Division gave a briefing this week on those activities.
World Health Assembly: R&D, NCDs, Pandemics Top Agenda 17/05/2013 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments With just days before the UN World Health Assembly opens, member states once again face a packed agenda with key decisions to be taken on some highly-politicised public health and intellectual property matters, including how to move forward on the research and development draft resolution. The spotlight will also be on pandemic influenza preparedness, a resolution of size on noncommunicable diseases, the health-related Millennium Development Goals, and putting some reform decisions into practice.
Micro Consensus on WIPO Technical Assistance; Prickly Issues Left Open 17/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment One of the key discussions of the World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and IP (CDIP) this week was the improvement of WIPO technical assistance in the area of cooperation and development. Discussions trailed on for two days as countries were unable to agree on recommendations to be implemented, and if there should be any adoption by the committee. Shy of concrete consensus, the committee agreed on three modest actions.
World Telecom Policy Forum Agrees On Six Opinions 17/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment While controversies over the role of governments in internet governance could not be avoided at the World Telecom Policy Forum this week, six prepared opinions were all passed with only minor changes. But a Brazilian proposal to “operationalize the role of governments in the multistakeholder framework of internet governance,” discussed at some length during the concluding day of the forum, did not find consensus.