Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A recent European Union regulation on customs enforcement of intellectual property rights has raised concerns among civil society actors who find that the regulation might not be an improvement over its previous version under which seizure of legal generic medicines in transit occurred a few years ago, leading to a World Trade Organization dispute.
Alongside last week’s meeting of the World Trade Organization intellectual property committee, the United States, European Union and Jamaica organised an event on the relevance of intellectual property in sports. Speakers from professional organisations such as the International Olympic Committee, the Association of European Professional Football Leagues, and the Nike company were invited to share their experience in the matter.
The GAVI Alliance launched a mid-term report this week showing that the public-private partnership is on track to immunise more than 250 million children by 2015 and prevent some four million deaths. GAVI’s CEO said it uses multiple tools to help reduce prices of vaccine and that intellectual property rights do not pose a serious threat to its success.
The World Trade Organization intellectual property committee last week agreed on a draft decision on disputes that are not in direct violation of WTO IP rules but where one country’s measures negatively affect another country’s expected benefits. Plain packaging for tobacco products was also discussed as Ireland is preparing to introduce such a measure meant to discourage tobacco use, and some countries presented their views on the importance of IP rights in sports.
Climate change calls for new technologies to face its consequences, governments agree. But research and development efforts are mainly conducted by the private sector in developed countries and are patent-protected, which is doing little to diffuse the technologies in developing countries, said a lecturer in Geneva this week.
The World Health Organization is putting the finishing touches on an implementation plan for industry's financial participation in the global influenza preparedness strategy. This week the advisory group met to discuss a draft plan presented by the WHO secretariat, which should now come up with a revised version for implementation in early 2014, according to the chair of the advisory group.
A seminar on the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications was held at the United Nations last week with panellists exploring the intersection between intellectual property and human rights in the context of public health, agriculture, and the role of flexibilities to achieve balance between private and public interests.
Two scientists with a connection to Geneva have published an unorthodox e-book entitled, Guide for the perplexed entering the Maze of Genetic Resources Traditional Knowledge and Folklore.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) last week held a mandated seminar on the right of everyone to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications. In some cases, intellectual property rights may not be helping, according to speakers.
The US Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center organised a panel during the World Trade Organization Public Forum last week to explore what industry sees as challenges of trade in the digital age. Three panellists presented concerns - mainly counterfeiting - and solutions they have put in place to address such challenges.