Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Trade Organization intellectual property committee will meet next week with some new issues on the agenda. Ecuador has requested the continuance of a discussion on the transfer of green technologies, and Taiwan and the United States have proposed an agenda item on innovation incubators.
This spring, Intellectual Property Watch has had the pleasure of welcoming three talented interns/researchers who have provided not only their expertise but their enthusiasm for all aspects of intellectual property and have made an excellent addition to the team.
The prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) stands high on the agenda of World Health Organization member countries, many of them said last week. Governments called for a multi-stakeholder approach to tackle the problem, governed by firm rules, and some asked for ways to regulate products that increase risk factors.
Faced with growing global concern over microbial resistance to antibiotic treatments, the World Health Assembly last week adopted a resolution to establish a global action plan on antimicrobial resistance.
The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on development closed last week with little to show after a week of unyielding opposing positions on every sensitive issue by several countries. Frustration was palpable as those issues were sent to the next session for further discussions, with the risk of renewed disagreement.
World Health Organization members this week examined progress made in the ongoing reform of the UN agency. Members speaking in committee made firm requests for speedy implementation of reforms, and commended WHO’s efforts toward financial sustainability, with some cautions.
After several drafting sessions this week meant to finalise a framework to govern the engagement of the World Health Organization with the private sector, nongovernmental organisations, foundations and academics, country delegates admitted defeat today at the World Health Assembly.
Immunization coverage in many developing countries remains low and even shows a decrease in some cases, according to the report of a World Health Organization advisory group of experts, to be noted by this week’s World Health Assembly. A number of developing countries yesterday underlined the high cost of new vaccines and asked that the WHO help them campaign for lower prices.
A proposal to increase the engagement of “non-state actors” - industry, nongovernmental organisations, foundations and academics - in the activities of the World Health Organization is under intense debate at the annual World Health Assembly this week.
The World Intellectual Property Organization technical committee working on standards to facilitate work of intellectual property offices and their communication had to adjourn its fourth session last week for lack of agreement on the committee’s relationship to the 2007 Development Agenda of the organisation.
The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property opened this week with a loaded agenda and some politically-charged issues. One of them is an independent assessment of the mandated mainstreaming of a development dimension into the activities of the UN organisation.