WHO To Help Countries With Price Transparency, Regulation, TRIPS Flexibilities 08/02/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Dr Tedros) held a press conference yesterday to present progress made since his election last May. His office answered a follow-up question today from Intellectual Property Watch on access to medicines and how the organisation could help countries to do a better job.
Call For Applications – African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative 08/02/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Are you an African woman entrepreneur seeking to advance your leadership, strategy, and business management skills? Are you interested in connecting with other women business owners from across the continent and being coached by a mentor?
WHO Director Presents The Press With Progress Report, Answers Tough Questions 07/02/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Following a promise made at the beginning of his tenure to meet with the press regularly, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Dr Tedros) held a press conference today to paint a picture of what has been done under his leadership for the last seven months. He highlighted the establishment of the WHO General Programme of Work for 2019-2023, the quest for a new resource mobilisation strategy, measures taken on emergencies, and the push for universal health coverage. He also answered questions about the WHO nomination of President Mugabe that was cut short, and an appointment in his leadership team.
New Open Source Drug Discovery Initiative Takes Aim At “Devastating” Disease 07/02/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments A consortium including the Drugs for Neglected Disease initiative has launched a groundbreaking open source drug discovery project as way to find new drugs to treat mycetoma, a “devastating disease for which current treatments are ineffective, expensive, and toxic,” the group said.
A Brief Sketch Of Privilegio In The Venetian Renaissance 07/02/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Gavin Keeney writes: As a type of historical morality tale, especially given arguments currently before the European Commission regarding copyright reform and “neighboring rights,” this short treatise addresses the origins of copyright in the Venetian Renaissance in the late 1400s under the aegis of privilegio, notably first granted to authors (author-publishers) versus printers (printer-publishers). Subsequently, printers as publishers would command the lion’s share of such rights to works. Arguably, Venetian privilege transferred the immemorial aspect of written works (here considered “moral rights” for works) to authors in a casual, yet emphatic manner leading to modern copyright. With contemporary copyright nominally belonging to authors, but in fact belonging by expropriation to presses and platforms, it is likely that one of the few solutions, short of benevolent presses fully sharing rights with authors, is for moral rights to return to works by way of the author renouncing copyright but refusing the arrogation of such renounced rights to presses and platforms.
Leaked Letter Shows Pressure On Colombia Not To Issue Compulsory Licence For Glivec 06/02/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A newly leaked 2016 letter from the CEO of Novartis to the president of Colombia, made available by Swiss group Public Eye, shows the level of concern the Swiss pharmaceutical company had over the effect of possible issuance of a compulsory licence for Novartis drug Glivec in the pivotal South American economy.
Medicines Innovation And Access: Swiss Stimulate New Thinking 06/02/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BERN, Switzerland — What if reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on access to health for all depended on the willingness of all actors to see beyond outdated dichotomies? The concept may seem obvious, but is easier described than done. In an effort to break silos, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) brought together stakeholders of all sides last week to discuss how to harness political and economic will to achieve innovation leading to new medicines that are available and affordable for all in need.
Andrei Iancu Named US Patent And Trademark Office Director 06/02/2018 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By a vote of 94-0, the United States Senate on 5 February confirmed California intellectual property litigator Andrei Iancu as next director of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The new Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property is currently managing partner of Irell & Manella LLP’s Los Angeles firm. The patent and trademark communities wished Iancu luck but said there are many issues at the agency that need his attention.
Gavi-Harvard Study Shows Vaccines Will Save Tens Of Millions From Poverty 05/02/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Vaccination will help prevent some 24 million people from falling into poverty by 2030 in addition to saving millions of lives, shows a new study co-authored by Harvard University and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
WHO Executive Board Adopts Draft Resolution On TB, Stresses Importance Of Resistant TB In Overall Fight Against AMR 05/02/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Mirza Alas of the intergovernmental South Centre has published an analysis of the World Health Organization Executive Board approval of a draft resolution on actions toward ending tuberculosis and how it relates to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The opening paragraphs and a link to the original are provided below.