Human Rights Council Examines Safety Of Journalists And Protection Of Media 24/06/2018 by Damilola Adepeju for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.” Yet, there are still places around the world where people do not enjoy this right. This was one of the foci of discussion at the ongoing Human Rights Council meeting this week.
Experts To Regulators: AI Is A Panacea – With Hidden Dangers To Humanity 12/06/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The heads of national telecommunications and technology regulatory authorities are gathering next month at the International Telecommunication Union to address new technologies. Not surprisingly, artificial intelligence and data hold centre stage in the programme. The meeting comes after a recent event at the United Nations where divergent voices recognised the potential beneficial uses of new technology, but warned against the undeclared intentions behind it. Separately, a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows the influence of data in machine learning algorithms with chilling consequences.
Experts In Geneva: Substandard, Falsified Medicines Not About IP 06/06/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Falsified and substandard medical products continue to be a global concern, and how those products are characterised is important to avoid confusion, particularly with intellectual property rights infringement. A panel convened by Brazil, India and South Africa yesterday at the World Trade Organization looked at the implications of a new definition of such products at the neighbouring World Health Organization.
Ending Unauthorised Access To Genetic Resources (aka Biopiracy): Bounded Openness 06/04/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 7 Comments “Access to genetic resources” and “the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization” have beleaguered all thirteen Conferences of the Parties to the 1993 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a group of academics writes. The expression in quotes constitutes the third objective of the Convention and is intertwined with the first two, conservation and sustainable use. It goes by the acronym “ABS”. Despite 25 years of efforts and an annual bio-economy of nearly one trillion dollars, few contracts have ever been concluded. And of those very few, the monetary benefits are so low that contracting parties are loathe to disclose them. The “Brazilian ABS Law” of 2015, which came into effect on 6 November 2017, even allows royalties on net sales to be as low as one tenth of one percent. In the words of one distinguished legal scholar, Users are paying “peanuts for biodiversity.”
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.
New Draft Action Plans On Copyright Limitations And Exceptions At WIPO 13/11/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization has grasped the nettle after years of discussion on the issue of limitations and exceptions to copyright, and provided draft action plans, one each for libraries, archives, museums, educational research institutions, and persons with other disabilities than sight impairment. The plans, being discussed in this week’s committee meeting, include brainstorming sessions, studies, and regional seminars, and conferences to advance understanding and issues related to copyright for those particular actors.
Guide To This Week’s Annual WIPO General Assemblies 01/10/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The annual UN World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies kick off this week for ten days during which delegates will have to find consensus on the budget for the next biennium, 2018/2019. Also on the agenda is the potential renewal of, and a proposed work programme for, the committee on genetic resources and traditional knowledge. WIPO delegates will also decide if they want to convene a high-level final negotiation for a design law treaty, and provide guidance on the work of the WIPO committee on copyright. A decision on which countries should host the next WIPO field offices has also been left to the General Assembly.
Access And Benefit-Sharing (ABS) Initiative To Continue Cooperation With WIPO 28/06/2017 by Elise De Geyter for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Access and Benefit Sharing Capacity Development Initiative (ABS Initiative) and the World Intellectual Property Organization will continue their cooperation and produce “further good events,” it became known during a recent event organised by WIPO. The initiative relates to genetic resources.
TRIPS Council Members: Defining IP Rights And The Public Interest 15/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment “Political and economic pressure placed on governments to forgo the use of TRIPS flexibilities violates the integrity and legitimacy of the system of legal duties and rights created by the TRIPS agreement and as reaffirmed by the Doha Declaration,” India told a World Trade Organization committee this week, referring to the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Cancer Drugs: Innovation ‘Blackmail’ Leads To Unaffordable Prices, Delinkage Needed, Speakers Say 30/05/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments What if you get an aggressive form of breast cancer, and the treatment exists but it is too expensive for you to get? You die. Tragic stories and the possibilities to avert them were centre stage at a panel last week on the margin of the ongoing World Health Assembly. Delinking the cost of research and development from the market prices of medicines was urged by speakers on the panel: representatives of cancer patients, civil society, and the Brazilian deputy ambassador.