Medicines Innovation And Access: Swiss Stimulate New Thinking 06/02/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BERN, Switzerland — What if reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on access to health for all depended on the willingness of all actors to see beyond outdated dichotomies? The concept may seem obvious, but is easier described than done. In an effort to break silos, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) brought together stakeholders of all sides last week to discuss how to harness political and economic will to achieve innovation leading to new medicines that are available and affordable for all in need.
WIPO Traditional Knowledge Division Provides Capacity Building, Publications 01/02/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The protection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge through the intellectual property system has been discussed for many years at the World Intellectual Property Organization. While delegates are working on potential international instruments to provide such protection, the WIPO Traditional Knowledge Division is involved in technical assistance and capacity building, providing information and issuing publications.
Copyright And Artificial Intelligence 30/01/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Ed Klaris writes: Recently, a photographer whose camera was used by a monkey to take a selfie settled a two-year legal battle against an animal rights group about copyright over the image. The lower court had denied the monkey a copyright, but the photographer did not want to face the appeals court. Whether monkeys can create copyrighted works is not exactly a pressing question for our time. But the important issues raised by this case and others about who owns creative work in an increasingly automated world are crucial to the future of copyright. With the advent of AI software, computers — not monkeys — will potentially create millions of original works that may then be protected by copyright, under current law, for more than 100 years.
The Top 5 Issues In EU Medicines Policy For 2018 (Including IP) 30/01/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Yannis Natsis writes: There is a breakdown in communications between the pharmaceutical industry and Ministers of Health in Europe. The newly-deployed tactic of public, personalised attacks on national decision-makers who express concerns over high prices of medicines, reveal a change in the industry’s lobbying strategy that might damage the relationship irreparably.
JPO Refused To Register Wordmark “ROMEO GIGLI” Due To Lack Of Consent From Italian Fashion Designer 29/01/2018 by Guest contributor for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In a recent decision, the Appeal Board of Japan Patent Office (JPO) refused to register trademark application no. 2015- 100245 for a red-colored word mark “ROMEO GIGLI” in gothic script (see below) designating goods of Class 24 and 25 on the grounds that applicant failed to obtain a consent from Italian fashion designer, Romeo Gigli, based on Article 4(1)(viii) of the Trademark Law, writes Masaki Mikami.
WHO Executive Board Agrees On Actions To Boost R&D, Access To Medicines 26/01/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments After long deliberations, the World Health Organization Executive Board agreed this morning to ask member states and the organisation to implement recommendations aiming at improving innovation and access to medicines. Three recommendations, specifically aimed at member states, including on the transparency on the cost of research and development of medicines, met resistance by some countries and were left hanging, to be discussed by member states with no timeframe.
WHO Board Shows Resolve In Tackling Shortages, Access To Medicines, Vaccines 25/01/2018 by Catherine Saez and William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The members of the World Health Organization Executive Board tonight (24 January) agreed to create a roadmap on global shortages of, and access to, medicines and vaccines. WHO members proclaimed the urgent need to address prices and availability of safe and efficient medicines and vaccines, some requesting the recently elected director general of the organisation to help find solutions.
Panel Spells Out Key Intellectual Property Issues For Venture Capitalists 24/01/2018 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Intellectual property issues are becoming increasingly important to venture capital investment decisions, speakers said at a recent American Bar Association webinar.
New Project To Sequence Genes Of Amazon Biodiversity, Enforce Benefit Sharing, Announced At Davos 24/01/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new partnership announced at the World Economic Forum this week plans to sequence the genome of all biodiversity in the Amazon basin and make sure that benefits from the commercialisation of products derived from this mapping are fairly and equitably shared.
WTO, WHO, WIPO Symposium To Look At Innovative Technologies And UN SDGs 22/01/2018 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Three major international organisations in Geneva dealing with health, trade and intellectual property rights will come together next month to look at how innovative technologies can help to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health.