UNITAID Report On Delinking R&D Costs From Medicines Prices 28/02/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Delinkage of research and development costs from medicines prices could “vastly expand” access to medicines by drastically dropping costs of the knowledge component of health products, innovative medicines R&D facility UNITAID says in a new report.
TTIP Negotiations: 12th Round Ends With Plan To Hurry Between Official Rounds 26/02/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments By July trade negotiators from the United States and the European Union want to present a draft text that only has brackets for the “most sensitive issues” in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). This was announced by Ignacio Bercero, chief negotiator for the European Union, and his US counterpart Dan Mullaney during a press conference today after this week’s 12th round of TTIP negotiations in Brussels.
IP And Innovation, Non-Violation Complaints On TRIPS Council Menu 26/02/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The now-familiar item of intellectual property and innovation is on the agenda for next week’s regular meeting of the intellectual property committee of the World Trade Organization. This time under the item, a range of developed countries have proposed to discuss education and diffusion, and Switzerland has put forward a paper on nurturing a culture of innovation.
Year Ahead In Internet Governance: Where The Internet Stewards Will Go In 2016 26/02/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Transitioning of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) out of the United States government – or not – is the top issue of a narrower internet governance community in 2016. Yet looming behind the many high-level government events are some more controversial topics that are attracting a wider set of stakeholders: the unresolved issues of privacy, free flow of data, surveillance and encryption, as well as the security or rather insecurity of a space of networked machines, including military machines.
Despite US Reforms, Patent Trolls Are Thriving – For Now 26/02/2016 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States has spent over a decade trying to rein in so-called “patent trolls.” Nevertheless, a recent study suggests that patent trolls are a bigger problem than ever.
UAEM’s Re:Route – New Mapping Tool For Alternative Health R&D Models 25/02/2016 by Priti Patnaik for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Re:Route, a mapping tool that lays out the research and development (R&D) landscape of innovation and financing for medicines, has been launched by the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM). It is a one-stop place for the alternative biomedical research and development landscape.
Whistleblowers Detail Accountability Problems At The Top Of WIPO; US Congressional Members Prepare Actions 25/02/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments WASHINGTON, DC — A set of senior former employees of the World Intellectual Property Organization and their representatives yesterday gave detailed sworn testimony to US lawmakers on what they termed extremely serious misconduct and retaliation at the United Nations agency. A congressional subcommittee chairman told Intellectual Property Watch afterward that based on all they have heard, they believe WIPO Director General Francis Gurry has “gone rogue” and that action against him will begin immediately. The US State Department will be pressed to demand a copy of a newly completed UN investigation of Gurry that apparently has been shared with the Colombian Ambassador in Geneva, Gabriel Duque, who is chair of the WIPO General Assembly this year.
Despite US Efforts, Patent Litigation Grows Apace 24/02/2016 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The United States worked hard over the last five years to reduce patent infringement suits. Congress enacted patent reform, the courts handed down important anti-patentee rulings, and the US Patent and Trademark Office began a campaign of energetically rejecting patents and patent claims. Despite all this, from 2014 to 2015, new patent infringement suits increased 18 percent and the number of defendants sued for patent infringement increased 21 percent. What went wrong?
US Copyright Office Recommends No Change To The “Making Available” Right 24/02/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The “making available right,” affirmed by the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization “Internet Treaties”, gives authors the prerogative to authorise digital access to their copyrighted works “in such a way that members of the public may access these works from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.” But while United States government officials have routinely held that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which implements the treaties covers all of the conduct envisioned by the right, courts have been less consistent, the US Copyright Office said in a 23 February congressionally-ordered report that recommended no change to current law.
Companies Can Inoculate Themselves Against Patent Trolls Through Their Supply Chain 24/02/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The well-worn phrase “no man is an island” may reflect a fundamental truth about the human condition, but it also provides wisdom into how to protect your company against patent trolls, writes Tim Wilson.