Support In US For WIPO Broadcasting Treaty Appears To Wane 21/05/2007 by Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Practically no one participating in a recent government forum here liked the proposed broadcaster protection treaty under negotiation at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. Computer companies didn’t like it; telephone companies didn’t like it; the National Football League didn’t like it; consumer […]
Health Assembly Sets Up Drafting Group On Brazil IP Proposal 21/05/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The World Health Assembly on 21 May set up a drafting group to discuss a Brazilian proposal that could give direction to ongoing discussions on public health, innovation and intellectual property and potentially reinforce the use of trade law for public health. The drafting group is expected to start its […]
Germany Discusses Digital Age Licensing Model For Public Broadcasters 21/05/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch German public broadcasters at a recent hearing of Germany’s Supreme Court warned against state interference with the funding of their programmes. The appeal by Germany’s large public broadcasting organisations ARD, ZDF and radio broadcaster “Deutschlandfunk” to the highest German court is primarily about money. But it may result […]
WHO Members Reach Preliminary Agreement On TRIPS And Malaria 21/05/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A preliminary agreement has been reached at the World Health Assembly on a draft proposal on malaria and the use of flexibilities in trade law to promote access to preventive technologies, sources said. After being discussed at the World Health Organization Executive Board meeting in January (IPW, Public Health, 6 […]
WHO Head Expresses Commitment To Strengthen IP Working Group 20/05/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan this week made a firm commitment to strengthen an intergovernmental working group on innovation and access to treatments that for the past year has struggled to find its focus, sources said. With a new proposal from Brazil focusing on what WHO can do […]
US To Loosen Drug Patent Provisions In Some Trade Deals 17/05/2007 by Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON – The White House has agreed to loosen restrictions on clinical test data and patent safeguards for pharmaceuticals in bilateral trade agreements between the United States and Peru, Panama, and Colombia as part of a broader agreement with congressional Democrats to spur progress on the Bush administration […]
IP Rises At Assembly As Brazil Proposes Greater WHO Role In Trade 17/05/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Intellectual property has become a major issue at this year’s World Health Assembly, with Brazil introducing a new draft resolution on public health, innovation and intellectual property, adding to various draft resolutions involving IP already under discussion. Meanwhile, a question was raised this week about WHO leadership on these issues. […]
Health Assembly Tackles Proposals On Avian Flu Virus Sharing 16/05/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Early in the 2007 World Health Assembly, the focus has moved to avian flu virus sample sharing for the development of treatments and access by both developed and developing countries. A drafting group started work on combining various proposals, including new drafts from the United States and an Indonesia-led group […]
Developed Countries Seek Clarification Of Idris’ Alleged Age Discrepancy 15/05/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By William New Citing concerns over accountability and leadership at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Switzerland are pushing for answers to allegations that WIPO Director General Kamil Idris purposely misrepresented his age on official documents for years. “We are by no means losing interest in this issue,” a […]
US Supreme Court Reins In Reach Of US Patents 15/05/2007 by Sarah Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Sarah Lai Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch The United States Supreme Court in late April reined in another patent appeals court ruling it deemed overly-expansive. The high court ruled that software companies liable for infringing a patent in the United States cannot at the same time be held liable by American courts for the same activities outside of US borders. “Foreign law alone, not United States law, currently governs the manufacture and sale of components of patented inventions in foreign countries,” wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg on behalf of three of her colleagues, Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and David Souter.