WHO Plans Public Hearing On IP Group By December 02/10/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The World Health Organization will organise public consultations for non-governmental stakeholders on a global public health and intellectual property working group most likely in November, according to a senior official. Meetings are being actively held within the WHO secretariat, which has set up a inter-departmental system involving a number of […]
US Seeks Review Of WHO Publication Policy After Report On US Trade Deals 28/09/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A senior United States health official in Washington is urging the head of the World Health Organization to withdraw a WHO-sponsored publication that is critical of US trade policy, charging possible organisational incompetence and calling for a full review of its publication procedures. “The WHO Secretariat’s decision to publish the […]
New Intergovernmental Initiative Highlights IP Flexibilities For Drug Prices 21/09/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A new international intergovernmental health initiative tied to airplane taxes highlights the use of flexibilities in intellectual property laws as an option for reducing drug prices. The plan is being welcomed by non-governmental organisations that have been lobbying for this point. The initiative is an international drug purchase facility and […]
Newcomer Howard Zucker, Former US Official, To Head WHO IP Group 19/09/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Speculation since May about who will lead the secretariat in a new intergovernmental working group on intellectual property and public health at the World Health Organization may now be put to rest as it is official that the post will go to Howard Zucker, WHO sources say. Zucker is the […]
Nine Candidates Proposed For WHO Director General Position 31/08/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The 5 September deadline to fill the top leadership post at the World Health Organization (WHO) is drawing nearer and at least eight candidates have been put forward, of which six are from developing countries and two are women. The formal list of the candidates will be published on 6 […]
A Look At The EPO Project On The Future Of Intellectual Property 28/07/2006 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Patent Office (EPO) with its centralised patent grant system was established in 1973. The EPO has 31 member states and comprises a legislative body, the administrative council, and its Munich-based executive office. The EPO has addressed its concerns about the future of the intellectual property system by launching a major study of the […]
WHO IP Working Group To Address Conflicting Interests Before December Meeting 25/07/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An intergovernmental working group on public health and intellectual property, which the World Health Assembly said in May should be set up “immediately,” is scheduled to meet for the first time in December in Geneva, according to informed sources. But apparently it is no easy task for the World Health Organization (WHO) to coordinate the […]
G8 Outcome Has IP Implications For Enforcement, Trade and Health 19/07/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This week’s Group of Eight (G8) meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia highlighted piracy and counterfeiting as one area in which G8 is determined to step up its effort, but it also made commitments to improve access to medicines for infectious diseases and to fulfil the development objective of the current world trade talks. Separately, German […]
MSF: Patent Monopoly Hinders Developing Countries’ Access To New HIV/AIDS Medicine 06/07/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A monopoly by a single pharmaceutical company on a new medicine for HIV/AIDS has limited access to the medicine to a select group of patients in developing countries, a non-profit group said today. The product is lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) and is only produced by the pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories, which holds the patent for the product, […]
Indonesia Strives To Acquire Bird Flu Medicines Despite No Patent 05/07/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment With eight recently confirmed cases of avian influenza, Indonesia is scrambling to build up its stockpile of medicines. The preferred product to fight bird flu in humans is not under patent in Indonesia, which raises questions as to why production has been off to a slow start in the country. Roche, the Swiss producer of […]