Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Health Organization has not completed negotiations with companies on a formula for contribute toward the new WHO framework for pandemic influenza. But companies are paying to access the virus anyway. In its meeting this week, the WHO Executive Board has addressed a range of issues such as pandemic influenza, but so far it has delayed discussion on another contentious topic: substandard/counterfeit medical products.
A US technology industry report released Friday presents data showing that the entertainment industry has grown by 50 percent in the past decade with increased consumer spending, despite continuous calls by industry for greater protection of their intellectual property rights due to economic difficulty.
Any employee who has been through a company reform knows that it can be an anxious and stressful period. The experience is no different for the 194 members of the World Health Organization representing their respective countries and the public health interests of their constituents. As the WHO Executive Board digs deep into the fundamental principles of organisational change, preserving the holy member-driven nature of the global public health authority has emerged as the most pressing priority.
A global business association held a meeting at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week on IP market developments, including increasing opportunities in technology transfer for commercial purposes. The intimate gathering featured a line-up of high-level speakers, including WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
US internet giant Google has released a report showing a steady climb in government surveillance online, which a tech industry group called "disturbing". The report, which covered from July through December of last year, includes more details than in the past, but does not include content takedowns, which now will be the subject of an upcoming separate report.
Manila, Philippines – The Philippine Supreme Court has begun to hear and weigh the arguments on the constitutionality of a controversial law listing punishable activities on the internet. Its implementation was suspended last year amid mounting criticism that, among other things, the law curtails freedom of speech and harks the country back to the almost a decade of repressive martial rule in the 1970s.
United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk has announced his departure from office in late February.
UNITAID, the drug purchasing facility affiliated with the World Health Organization, sees "great promise" in emerging diagnostic products for HIV treatment monitoring and diagnosis in remote regions. Now it is looking for someone to verify the freedom to operate of these tools, ensuring they are not intellectual property-encumbered.
India has started the New Year on a volatile note. With general elections looming in 2014, there is turbulence and not just in the political world. In India’s pharmaceutical industry, there is sparring over the prickly issue of ‘compulsory licenses’, a mechanism by which a government allows a domestic company to manufacture and sell a generic version of a patented drug without the consent of the patent-holder, who receives compensation.
India’s Copyright Act, 1957 has been significantly amended. In May 2012, both houses of the Indian Parliament unanimously placed their seal on the Copyright Amendment Bill, 2012, bringing Indian copyright law into compliance with the World Intellectual Property Organization “Internet Treaties”. In this article, attorney Abhai Pandey breaks down the changes.
World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan today opened the 132nd meeting of the Executive Board, the UN agency’s highest authority, emphasising the importance of cost-effectiveness and results-driven operations at a time of global economic austerity and precarious funding.
The United States Federal Trade Commission, which keeps an eye out for anticompetitive behaviour, has issued a study finding that in 2012, a record number of deals were struck between brand-name and generic drug companies to keep the lower-priced generics off the market. Such deals, which arise from patent disputes, cost American consumers billions of dollars annually while piling on the federal deficit, it said.