New International Pharma Industry Leader Brings Prospect Of Change 23/01/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New Alicia Greenidge represents a change for the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, but as she grows into her role as the head of the industry’s international trade association, it is unclear whether there will be substantive changes on policy relating to intellectual property and public health. Key policy areas include counterfeit medicines and funding for research and development into diseases afflicting poor populations in ways that echo past industry approaches, but Greenidge brings a new focus on networking and negotiation.
FAO Plant Treaty To Operationalise Benefit-Sharing Fund 14/01/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Kaitlin Mara Benefits from sharing and using biodiversity of food crops could soon be making their way to stakeholders, as the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture prepares to make its benefit-sharing fund fully operational. For the first time, say members of the treaty secretariat, this fund completes the circle […]
US IP Attachés Take Hard-Line Position On Overseas IP Enforcement 26/12/2008 by Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Nations ranging from Brazil to Brunei to Russia are failing to properly protect the intellectual property assets of US companies and others, and international organisations are not doing enough to stop it, seven IP attachés to the US Foreign and Commercial Service lamented recently. Meanwhile, […]
Draft Programme Of WIPO Funder Meeting For Development 16/12/2008 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization secretariat has circulated a draft programme for a funders’ meeting for IP and development in 2009 that includes proposed panels on IP projects in developing countries; science and innovation for development; WIPO-World Trade Organization cooperation; digital content in developing countries; work with indigenous communities; and reading access for the blind and visually impaired. The secretariat is expected to begin consultations on the proposed programme this week. Also released at the recent WIPO General Assembly was the statement by the WIPO Audit Committee chair, and the report by the Swiss Federal Audit Office of WIPO’s 2006-2007 budget.
WIPO Assembly Approves New Budget Unlocking Gears Of Change 12/12/2008 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization gave their first vote of confidence for the secretariat’s plans to realign the UN organisation Friday as they unanimously approved a reworked budget for 2008-2009. The approval came in an extraordinary one-day General Assembly on 12 December that ended quickly after the Program […]
New WIPO Director’s Revised Budget On Track To Passage After Debate 11/12/2008 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment [Editor’s Note: Final formal committee-level approval of the Program and Budget Committee recommendations took place on Friday morning.] By William New The powerful World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee on Thursday tacitly approved a new one-year budget funding the start of a strategic organisational realignment, with clarifications to reflect concerns of developing countries […]
Technology, IP Vital To Addressing Climate Change, UN Meeting Hears 11/12/2008 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Kaitlin Mara Finding a balance between needed incentives for innovation and equally needed affordable access to new technology is necessary to combat ecological challenges, yet striking it may prove difficult as countries at the United Nations’ talks on climate change struggle to determine what action is possible in the midst of a global economic […]
Budget Debates Arise Again At WIPO; Development Fears Run High 10/12/2008 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization could be considered a financial stalwart of the United Nations system, self-funding and usually running large positive balances. But recent years have seen the rise in influence of developing countries at WIPO, and this week those countries are calling on the organisation’s new leadership to ensure their […]
UN Internet Governance Forum 2008: Friends And Foes, But More Friends 05/12/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch HYDERABAD, INDIA – The Internet Governance Forum of the United Nations is halfway through its first term and starting to think about its future after 2010. Gathering in Hyderabad, India this week, it brings together friends and foes of what has been cast as a multi-stakeholder experiment, a […]
Ministers, Stakeholders Meet In Mali To Strategise On Health Research Systems 20/11/2008 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Kaitlin Mara Ministers of health, science and technology, and social development met this week with scientific researchers and representatives from foundations, the private sector and civil society to discuss the future of research for health on diseases disproportionately affecting the developing world. “Data matters, and the sharing of data matters,” Mark Walport, director of […]