Original news and analysis on international IP policy
What do entertainment, sports, health, religion, fashion, jewelry, champagne, software and even tattoos have in common - other than being a large portion of the elements of any developed society?
NAGOYA, JAPAN – Officials negotiating this week on an international agreement to stop misuse of genetic resources appear to have reached minimal consensus on additional articles of the draft text under negotiation, though many specific areas of disagreement were resolved, they said. A Friday deadline for completion was pushed to Monday in the hope they can resolve deeper differences on fundamental issues such as traditional knowledge and compliance.
If public procurement for innovation is to be seen as part of developing countries’ industrial-policy portfolio, a recent paper argues accession to the GPA would not help, and advises against it, writes Riaz K. Tayob.
Several major generic-medicine producing nations last week held a discussion on the dangers of compromised medical products and joined together to urge new steps such as defining terms, focussing on public health and strengthening national regulatory capabilities beyond strictly enforcement actions that they say have been manipulated and at times counterproductive.
NAGOYA, JAPAN - With the clock ticking and less than a day to go before a draft of a legally binding instrument to prevent biopiracy is due to be presented to the assembly of a major United Nations meeting on biodiversity, delegations kept trying to find acceptable language, with different echoes coming from the negotiating room. Meanwhile, Canadian indigenous people convened a press briefing today (21 October) to charge that Canada was trying to block the negotiations and deny their human rights.
NAGOYA, JAPAN - Negotiations on a legal international instrument to prevent biopiracy and ensure that resource holders are compensated on Thursday continued to demand the attention of delegates in the closed-door discussions here. Meanwhile, civil society argued that the Convention on Biological Diversity is at a critical point while a research institute provided a model agreement for providers and users of genetic resources.
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) held its Council meeting on 21 October, approving the participation of two public interest groups that were rejected at a previous meeting as observers to the Council (IPW,…
NAGOYA, JAPAN - Discussions on a draft protocol to prevent biopiracy were intense again on Wednesday, with night sessions going late as delegation try to find common language on a legally binding instrument. Around the discussions, undertaken mostly behind closed doors, side events convened by civil society are warning about numerous cases of biopiracy, and the urgent need for a meaningful protocol.
Europe has promised at the "highest levels" to fix laws that caused generic medicine seizures in the Netherlands, the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry said today. The minister is in Geneva for meetings on the ongoing Doha Round trade liberalisation talks at the World Trade Organization.
Copyright law is not always a barrier to access to knowledge, but lack of adequate or predicable copyright enforcement in developing countries can prevent the evolution of their own local creative industries, said several representatives from such industries yesterday.
A study showing the economic benefits of biodiversity and the costs of its destruction was released today at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Nagoya, Japan.
The Medicines Patent Pool, recently established with the support of drug-purchasing mechanism UNITAID, is searching for a new business director to manage relationships with current and potential new licensors and licensees of medicine-related patents. The business development director will help…