A Price Too Good To Be True 26/05/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Steven Tepp writes: Virtually every consumer in every country wants products and services as inexpensively as possible. Nowhere is that demand more acute than in health care, where quality of life, and life itself, is at stake. In Europe, most national governments use the monopsony power of a single-payer national health care system to negotiate (or dictate) what prices they will pay, an activity that has been considered “anti-competitive” in EU private markets. And some governments simply issue price controls.
Will The Money Keep Rolling?: Innovative Global Health Financing And Governance 26/05/2017 by Mara Pillinger for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment We are in a liminal moment for global health financing. The “golden age” of increasing donor funding is clearly over, arrested by the 2008 financial crisis. But while donor contributions are no longer climbing, they have not been falling, either. And it is possible this status quo will hold… But it’s equally possible that this is just the pause before the roller-coaster drops. Considering that Gavi, the Global Fund, and the World Bank will all be launching another replenishment round in 2019—and given the uncertainty surrounding US foreign aid commitments and post-polio financing—that drop may prove very steep indeed.
Head Of WHO Health Systems Lays Out IP Issues At WHA 26/05/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The annual World Health Assembly will address several issues related to intellectual property and innovation, Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general for health systems and innovation at the World Health Organization, said in an interview this week. But a new initiative at WHO on fair pricing of medical products may not be among them in a significant way. [Update: the latest on the state of play on the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines is being provided in real time below.]
US Supreme Court Puts New Limits On Patent Suits 23/05/2017 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Yesterday’s United States Supreme Court decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Brands Group followed some familiar trends in Supreme Court jurisprudence. It overturned long-established Federal Circuit law, restricted the power of patent owners, and handed a stinging defeat to so-called “patent trolls” (companies that make money primarily by licensing their patents and suing those who refuse to purchase licenses). The Court did all this by limiting where patent infringement suits can be filed – and thus significantly changing patent litigation in the US.
Taiwan Lobbies For Invitation To World Health Assembly, China Firmly Bars The Way 22/05/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Taiwan will not be allowed to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA) this year as an observer, the WHA has decided on its opening day. Some hours earlier today, Taiwan’s minister of health gave a press conference to denounce the fact that the country has not been invited by the World Health Organization, and saying that Taiwan needs the WHO, and the WHO needs Taiwan.
No Free Lunch, G20 Health Ministers Find At First Meeting 20/05/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Group of 20 health ministers today finished their first joint table top exercise to simulate the outbreak of a new deadly viral pandemic in “Anycountry” and passed a seven-page final resolution on pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance. Non-governmental experts and health organizations welcomed the first ever meeting of health ministers in the G20 format, but see a risk of framing the debate from a global North security perspective. And despite a call of urgency with regard to antimicrobial resistance, the G20 could not agree to include the de-linking of the cost of investment in R&D from the price of medical products.
WIPO Committee On Development Outcome Hailed As Most Positive In Years 20/05/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment After years of mostly discontented discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on IP and development, last week proved positive, with a 10 year political knot solved, an international conference, and a new project approved, as well as a number of recommendations to implement the 2007 WIPO Development Agenda.
Draft Cancer Resolution Might Be Set For Approval At World Health Assembly 19/05/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment According to sources, countries have agreed in the nick of time on a draft resolution on cancer prevention, control, and access to cancer medicines, and in particular the price of new cancer medicines, to be examined at the World Health Assembly next week.
WIPO And The SDGs: Differing Views At Committee On IP And Development 19/05/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization, as a United Nations specialised agency, has a role to play in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030. How that might happen, and which goals the organisation should pursue are a matter of ongoing discussion at the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property this week. Views diverge on whether the 17 SDGs should be considered as a whole, of if the organisation should focus on what is considered as its particular expertise and mission.
How The CIA WikiLeaks Disclosure Diverts Attention From Big Picture 15/05/2017 by Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The WikiLeaks publication of hacking tools and malware the CIA has allegedly used continues to stir the ire and fear of those concerned about the possible risk of the US government’s backdoor access to private data. But WikiLeaks’ publication of alleged CIA-created malware instructions, which the CIA has not confirmed as authentic, diverts attention away from how numerous other state-sponsored agents are aggressively seeking to steal intellectual property and other data, security experts say.