Gilead Wins Sovaldi Domain Dispute Over Buyers’ Club Generic Sellers 16/02/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Pharmaceutical company Gilead has made headlines in recent years for offering the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi that has helped many patients. And for the fact that it came with an eye-popping price tag. Perhaps in a sign of the times, Gilead this month won an open-and-shut case against a squatter on the domain name “sovaldi.eu,” that was offering lower-priced generic versions of Sovaldi, including through links to “buyers’ clubs” organised to obtain medicines more affordably. The website was called, “SOVALDI. The life-saving cure for Hepatitis C which nobody can afford.” Was it a little act of rebellion, or just another internet opportunist?
EU Council Clears Way For Ratification Of Marrakesh Treaty For Visually Impaired By Summer 15/02/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Union Council of Ministers today adopted a decision that enables the EU to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty on access to published works for blind and visually impaired readers starting in summer. The copyright exceptions treaty negotiated at the World Intellectual Property Organization and adopted in 2013, went into effect in September 2016 but has been held up in Europe.
Over 50 Libraries, Educators, Researchers Call On EU Parliament For Better Copyright 15/02/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment More than 50 organisations representing a range of teachers, students, trainers, researchers, scientists, librarians and others have joined together to call on the European Parliament to improve European copyright reform for education.
Innovations For All: Swiss-Led Panel Looks At What Works, What Doesn’t 14/02/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The current innovation system has yielded many important innovations and extended human life, nobody disputes this. But what about the cases where it hasn’t and a problem persists? A panel of health experts organised recently by the Swiss government and including representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, the World Health Organization, academia, and a research institution held an unusually open and positive discussion that sought to get underneath the issue.
Do We Need A Global Body To Set Priorities For Diseases And Research? 14/02/2018 by William New and Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A recent panel of health experts gathered at the hallowed Swiss Intellectual Property Institute in Bern (which counts Albert Einstein among its alumni) tackled some of the toughest questions facing global health policymakers with an eye toward actually solving them and not just restating polarised positions. One of the ideas discussed at the event was how priorities for diseases and research are handled at the global level.
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.
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.
Biosimilar Industry Launches Information Campaign For Better Acceptance 05/02/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The International Generic and Biosimilar medicines Association has launched an information campaign on biosimilar medicines in order to raise worldwide understanding and acceptance of biosimilar medicines.
The Top 5 Issues In EU Medicines Policy For 2018 (Including IP) 30/01/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Yannis Natsis writes: There is a breakdown in communications between the pharmaceutical industry and Ministers of Health in Europe. The newly-deployed tactic of public, personalised attacks on national decision-makers who express concerns over high prices of medicines, reveal a change in the industry’s lobbying strategy that might damage the relationship irreparably.
Antimicrobial Benchmark For Industry Launched In Davos 23/01/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Across the Alps from this week’s World Health Organization Executive Board meeting, the first ever antimicrobial resistance benchmark was launched today at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.