IP Rights Through Two Lenses At Next Week’s TRIPS Council: Improving Lives, Competition Law 29/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Next week, the World Trade Organization intellectual property committee is invited to discuss two distinct aspects of intellectual property protection. One group of countries is proposing to explore the value of IP and its role in improving lives in a persistent agenda item on IP and innovation. Another group of countries is pushing for a more recent agenda on IP and the public interest and next week is suggesting to discuss how to use competition laws against the abuse of IP rights.
Fake Medicines To Be Discussed On Side Of WTO TRIPS Council Next Week 29/05/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Alongside next week’s World Trade Organization intellectual property committee meeting, Brazil, India, and South Africa are convening a workshop on the neighbouring World Health Organization’s approach to substandard and falsified medicines.
Patent Backlogs Fuel Efforts To Extend Pharma Patent Terms In Thailand And Brazil, AIDS Activists Say 18/05/2018 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 17 Comments For a variety of reasons, Thailand and Brazil have huge backlogs of pharmaceutical patent applications. The delay in patent examinations is creating pressure on the countries to extend patent protection terms to the detriment of access to affordable medicines, AIDS organisations say.
TRIPS Flexibilities In High Demand 16/05/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Using flexibilities in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has long been an issue of the developing world. But policymakers gathered at a meeting on access to health in Brussels today said there was an urgent need for European Union countries, too, to make more use of flexibilities.
Groups Target EU-Mercosur FTA To Advance Access To Health In Trade Deals 16/05/2018 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 12 Comments AIDS activists, health activists and civil society organizations in Brazil and Argentina are pushing back against the negative effects of the planned free trade agreement between the Mercosur countries and the European Union. The EU-Mercosur negotiations might be the best chance as of now to advance an intellectual property agenda that is more favourable to access to health, says Pedro Villardi, coordinator on IP policy issues at the Associação Brasiliera Interdisciplinar de Aids Observatorio National de Politicas de Aids (ABIA).
Study Finds Rise In Use Of India’s Section 3(d) Against Pharma Primary Patents 11/05/2018 by Adithi Koushik for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Access to affordable medicines is one of the most pressing policy issues globally. India has played a prominent role as “pharmacy of the developing world” with its generic medicine industry; however, the interpretation and implementation of a particular section of the law can significantly affect this role, according to a recent study.
Truvada Case Shows Civil Society’s Success With Pre-Grant Opposition 08/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 15 Comments The example of Gilead antiretroviral Truvada in Argentina and Brazil shows how civil society efforts to use patent opposition to patents it felt were unjustified were rewarded by patent withdrawal and rejection, even if the situation in Brazil might not be entirely settled.
Annual Update On WTO Dispute Settlement Marked By Impasse On Appellate Body Selections 08/05/2018 by Adithi Koushik for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The annual update on World Trade Organization dispute settlement was especially challenging this year due to the ongoing impasse regarding selection process to the Appellate Body. During the event, some light was shed on the “alarming consequences” of the stalemate.
Evergreened Patents Cause Unwarranted High Drug Prices, Hinder Growth Of Local Producers – NGOs, Thai Producers Claim 07/05/2018 by Sinfah Tunsarawuth for Intellectual Property Watch 17 Comments BANGKOK – Transnational drug manufacturers’ tactics of obtaining unmerited patent applications have unnecessarily raised healthcare costs and impeded the growth of domestic generic drug industry, costing the Thai government hundreds of millions of dollars, drug access campaigners and local producers have said.
Civil Society Key In TRIPS Flexibility Implementation 04/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 22 Comments When the agreement on intellectual property was adopted by the World Trade Organization, a number of flexibilities were included in the text, mainly to give developing countries policy space to implement the agreement with development considerations. However, some countries through lack of awareness or economic pressure have not used those flexibilities fully, and found themselves facing difficulties addressing their public health needs, which some associate with this failure to use the flexibilities. Civil society has engaged in notable efforts to counter pressure and raise policymakers’ awareness for a wider access to medicines.