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There could be some good news in 2011 for poor populations concerned about the impact of devastating pandemic diseases. Nations last week reached some breakthroughs behind closed doors in the sensitive international negotiations on finding a way to ensure all global citizens can obtain vaccines in the face of pandemics, according to a leading official in the talks. But some observers said problems remain in establishing clear rules for fair access and benefit-sharing of viruses and vaccines.
The US organizes a sophisticated industrial policy regime by exploiting an exception in the World Trade Organization agreement that allows governments to subsidize research and development carried out by private firms, writes Professor Fred Block.
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An independent review of intellectual property rights and economic growth in the United Kingdom has issued a call for evidence on how the IP system can best support growth.
President Obama is being pushed to sign into a law a bill passed by the United States Congress that would create six pilot programmes nationwide aimed at increasing expertise among district court judges in dealing with patents. Proponents consider the bill help against non-producing, patent owning companies that make a business of suing to defend the patents they own.
Two sides of the ongoing struggle to balance stronger copyright protection and access to knowledge in the United States are re-arming themselves for battle in 2011. By the looks of it, it could be a litigious New Year.
The United States State Department today released information about 15 projects worldwide this year aimed at training officials and prosecutors in intellectual property rights protection. The full press release follows.
The World Intellectual Property Organization is headed in a controversial direction, and a focus on development at the expense of protection of intellectual property rights will mean the end of the agency, the United States Ambassador Betty King said yesterday.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office today announced that USPTO Deputy Director Sharon Barner will leave office on 14 January.
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva this week offered a frank assessment of the UN system of dealing with pandemic diseases, and defended the need for governments to negotiate in secret to work out remaining differences.
Strategies may be failing to ensure developing countries’ implementation of global trade rules for intellectual property protection does not squelch access to affordable medicines worldwide, according to a study presented this week.