US Misrepresentations Called Out By Antigua In Online Gambling Case At WTO 29/09/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The tiny Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda today at the World Trade Organization gave an account of misrepresentations by the United States in its failure to fulfil a WTO dispute settlement panel’s finding that the US owes Antigua for US measures against online gambling that harmed the island’s economy. The United States now owes Antigua some $200 million in damages, and has offered only about $2 million. Now Antigua will formally request negotiations with the US trade office. At stake is Antigua’s authorisation by the WTO panel to recover its damages by failing to protect US intellectual property rights there, which it again reluctantly threatened to do if there is no resolution.
2017 Social Forum Focuses On HIV, Other Epidemics, Access To Health 29/09/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The 2017 Social Forum, an annual meeting convened by the Human Rights Council, is being held next week in Geneva, and will focus on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of the HIV epidemic and other communicable diseases and epidemics.
E-Commerce: Some Developing Countries Push Back On Idea Of New WTO Rules 29/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment While the profile of electronic commerce is rising in diverse international fora, some developing countries are saying they do not want to discuss a new negotiating mandate for e-commerce rules at the World Trade Organization. The current work programme on e-commerce is still adequate, they find, and the WTO Ministerial Conference in December should address more pressing issues, such as agriculture, or completing the Doha Development Round negotiations.
Use Competition Law For Wider Access To Cheap Medicines? 27/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The topic of access to medicines has gained momentum in recent years as high prices of new medicines affect developing countries and developed countries. The role of competition legislation in preventing market abuses and monopoly situations has been pointed to as a possible lever to facilitate access to generic medicines and balance the potential negative effects of intellectual property protection.
Initiative Aims At Using New Technologies To Reinvigorate International Trade 27/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As protectionism tempts some, the International Chamber of Commerce Brazil is launching an initiative to bring new technologies to the rescue of international trade. The new digital age holds promise and is inevitable, but requires solid policymaking and improvement in such areas as education and broadband coverage to deliver on its possibilities, panellists at the World Trade Organization Public Forum said today.
World Trade Organization Public Forum: Moving Beyond Friends Or Foes 26/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment At a time when international trade might be perceived as creating more harm than good, the World Trade Organization is proposing to go “behind the headlines” and beyond the rhetoric, as the theme of its yearly public forum of stakeholder discussions, which opened today.
WTO Market Access Committee Debates China, India Restrictions On IT, Russia’s GIs On Wine 22/09/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment In the World Trade Organization Market Access Committee today, a range of member countries raised concern over China’s tariffs on semiconductors and India’s duties on a range of information technology products. In addition, the European Union raised concern over uneven application of lower tariffs for geographically indicated wines, favouring local producers.
New Study Looks At IP And The Rise Of Mega-Regional Agreements 11/09/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A substantive new study with contributions from a range of leading thinkers in the field of intellectual property rights delves into the history and future of mega-regional trade agreements and the evolution of IP rights.
Key IP Delegates In Geneva – Fully Updated! 01/09/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Geneva, Switzerland is the gathering point for the world’s governments to set international policy and practices relating to intellectual property rights, as they cut across many of the public policy issues of the day (eg innovation, trade, internet, health, food), including at the World Intellectual Property Organization, World Trade Organization and World Health Organization. Everyone has a stake in what governments and their stakeholders do in these venues. But who do you talk to in order to get your message through? Now Intellectual Property Watch has fully updated its unique list of the diplomats representing many of the key nations in those institutions in Geneva. Available here for subscribers only!
Malaysia Inclusion In Gilead Voluntary Licence – A Product Of Compulsory Licence Pressure 24/08/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Gilead’s announcement today that they would include four middle-income countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Belarus, Ukraine) in their sofosbuvir voluntary licence was a welcome surprise, and will enable millions access to their highly effective, but exorbitantly priced, drug. The decision to include these countries, however, no doubt is a response to increasing pressure from within these countries to either issue a compulsory licence (CL) or a government use licence (GUL), invalidate the sofosbuvir patents, or block data exclusivity for the drug.