UN Rapporteur On Food Offers Long-Term Answer To Food Crisis: Agroecology 09/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The annual report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, to the sixteenth session of the UN Human Rights Council yesterday is unequivocal. There must be a global agricultural shift toward more productive, environmentally friendly, sustainable modes of production, using natural resources to remediate world hunger, away from industrialised agriculture. In short, the world needs a shift to agroecology.
Law Firms Making Changes To IP Staff 09/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A number of law firms and a key trademark industry group have made changes in recent weeks aimed at boosting their intellectual property practices.
Canada Considers Amendment To Compulsory Licensing Regime For Medicines Access 08/03/2011 by Tavengwa Runyowa for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Canadian Parliament is on the verge of amending the nation’s patent regime to make it easier for generic drug companies to provide low-cost HIV medications for developing countries.
Panel: Help Needed With IP Implications Of Nagoya Protocol On Genetic Resources 07/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The new international agreement on access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources has many IP implications, according to panellists at an event last week. And at least one United Nations agency is launching an effort to help countries with those IP implications.
WIPO Draft Treaty Text On Genetic Resources Joins Folklore, Traditional Knowledge 04/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Country experts this week took up the challenge of doing the groundwork for negotiations towards a treaty on the protection of genetic resources at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Breaking uncharacteristically early on the final day today, the experts’ work delivered a set of options reflecting all points of views for negotiators to work from.
WTO Talks On Geographical Indications Unable To Achieve Lift-Off 04/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments World Trade Organization members on Thursday combed through a composite text displaying the different views on a mandated multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications on wines and spirits. The composite text was developed last week as the result of several informal meetings. Countries now have clarified their inputs to the document and tried to define what next steps should be taken to refine it, but discussions were difficult, according to participants.
Group Discussion Deepens Over WHO Role In Stopping Poor Quality Medicines 01/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The role of the World Health Organization in the safety, quality and efficacy of medical products is under scrutiny this week by member states and stakeholders. In particular, the focus is on the WHO’s role in the prevention and control of medical products of compromised quality, the organisation’s relationship with the international taskforce against counterfeit products, and the taskforce’s alleged focus on the protection of intellectual property rights rather than on public health issues. In several documents, the WHO tries to explain this fragile role.
Debate Rises Over Elevating Profile Of Genetic Resources At WIPO 01/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Experts discussing the protection of genetic resources at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week are struggling to stay within their technical mandate as the issues carry significant political impact. Discussions today resulted in a marked-up text on objectives and principles of a possible international instrument that reveals key differences among members on the role of IP, and of WIPO, in genetic resources.
Long Week Ahead For WIPO Experts Considering Treaty On IP And Genetic Resources 28/02/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Having successfully advanced discussions toward treaties on the protection of folklore and traditional knowledge, country experts this week are meeting at the World Intellectual Property Organization to discuss the protection of genetic resources. But this time, it might prove trickier.
WHO Members To Work To Disentangle Problem Of Fake Medicines, IP Issues 26/02/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A designated working group will meet for the first time this week to discuss the World Health Organization’s role in the safety, quality and efficacy of medical products, but some countries are concerned about what they consider to be the unwelcome intrusion of intellectual property rights issues into the debate.