World AIDS Day Brings Calls For Legislative Caution, Reform 01/12/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Canada’s Parliament has the power to save lives of millions afflicted with HIV around the world if they will act to ease intellectual property-related restrictions on their access to medicines, Canadian civil society groups said today.
Key IP-Related Personnel Changes In UN, National Agencies 01/12/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The end of the year is bringing many changes in intellectual property-related policy offices in Geneva and the capitals. Some of these changes include top offices at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Health Organization, South African government, United States government, and a global internet body. Intellectual Property Watch Subscribers can read the details here.
UN Climate Change Talks Start With Little Faith From Observers 29/11/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Today in Cancun, Mexico, the United Nations climate change conference opened with hopes of finding consensual solutions for the global environmental threat and its consequences. After the disappointing results of last year’s conference in Copenhagen, echoes of uncertainty on the outcome of the Cancun conference are being heard from many sides.
UN Biodiversity Convention Seeks Expedited Entry Into Force Of Benefit-Sharing Protocol 29/11/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As the end of 2010 nears, bringing with it the end of the otherwise unremarkable international year of biodiversity, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is calling for countries to ratify the newly agreed protocol on biodiversity access and benefit sharing as soon as it opens for signature in February.
Sharing US Drug Patents with Neglected Patients: A Scientist’s View 05/11/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment “Instead of re-hashing old debates about patents, patients and profits, forward-looking pharmaceutical executives should consider new ways of ensuring that medicines reach all patients who need them,” writes John Erickson, one of the researchers who discovered the HIV medicine recently licensed by the National Institutes of Health to the Medicines Patent Pool.
Controversy Over New IGF Mandate, UN Role In Internet Governance 04/11/2010 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments A first proposal on the future mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is on the agenda this week at the ongoing 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. A proposal prepared by the Group of 77 and China opts for another five-year mandate for the IGF to discuss internet public policy related issues and embraces the so-called multi-stakeholder principle.
Wikileaks Creator, In Geneva, Denounces US Abuse Of Human Rights 04/11/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments In a police-secured, airless room full of Geneva journalists, Julian Assange, creator and director of Wikileaks, today gave details of what he described as United States abuse of human rights in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as an alleged muzzling of US press on those subjects. The United States will undergo its first Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council tomorrow.
Compromise UN Protocol Treaty Against Biopiracy Adopted In Japan 29/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 10 Comments With a standing ovation in the early hours of the morning of Saturday, in Nagoya, Japan, an international instrument aimed at preventing misappropriation of genetic resources was adopted by members of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The protocol is also intended to ensure that benefits accrued from the use of those genetic resources are shared equitably with the provider country.
Ministers Arrive To Help Reach Outcome At UN Convention On Biodiversity 27/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment As ministers arrived in Nagoya, Japan, for the high-level segment of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity today, negotiators kept trying to reach consensus on remaining agenda items, such as a strategic plan, or an international legal instrument to prevent biopiracy and ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits accrued from the use of genetic resources.
Biodiversity Benefit-Sharing Treaty Negotiators Tackle New Text As Clock Ticks 26/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Another grace period has been given to negotiators trying feverishly to find agreement this week in Nagoya, Japan on an international instrument protecting countries against unlawful appropriation of their genetic resources and ensuring the fair sharing of benefits arising from the use of those resources. The delegates are to present their text Wednesday to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting so that it can be approved by ministers.