Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The International Narcotics Control Board, which implements United Nations drug control conventions, has released a set of guidelines they say will help governments prevent the sale of controlled substances online. “Internet pharmacies can be accessed by anyone, anywhere who happens…
LYON, FRANCE – At the cutting edge of medical technology lie new hopes for patients, but also serious ethical concerns and potential intellectual property snags. Read More...
Rural and underserved areas in the United States will have US $4.7 billion to improve their access to broadband technologies. Some of the funds are earmarked for specific purposes — $250 million will go to sustainable adoption of broadband, for…
LYON, FRANCE - A new level of willingness to cooperate on major public health initiatives may indicate increased convergence in goals between large pharmaceutical companies and patient advocacy groups, particularly when addressing neglected diseases, a panel at an international life sciences conference said Monday.
The Internet Society (ISOC) and World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee celebrated the web’s twentieth anniversary in Geneva yesterday. As the web continues to grow in all aspects of society and business, the ISOC acknowledges the “freely accessible standards” and…
A new bill introduced Thursday in the US House of Representatives could, if passed, create a pathway for generic versions of complex medications, called biologics, to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Bills for such a pathway…
World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy on Wednesday kicked off informal talks on two key intellectual property issues that have been stalled by disagreements on the forum and mandate for their discussion.
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Brazil, once criticised for lax intellectual property rights protection, has been stepping up implementation and enforcement of international IP rules in recent years, a World Trade Organization body announced Wednesday. But some major rights-holding nations urged the government to undertake further work.
A letter to the European Commissioner from the European Generic Medicines Association expresses concern about the detention of medicines in the Netherlands while en route from India to Brazil. While counterfeit medicines deserve “criminal and civil sanctions” as well as…
A World Trade Organization group tasked with creating a register for highly protected names of wines and spirits associated with geographical locations buckled down Thursday to a technical discussion on what it would look like. The focus on these issues sidestepped some broader political questions that have delayed these talks, but fundamental disagreements also remain over the register’s parameters.
Developing nations led by Brazil and India, along with public health providers and advocates, this week continue to press strong concern over seizures of legitimate shipments of generic pharmaceuticals destined for poor patients in the developing world. Raising the issue at the World Trade Organization again, they say new research into numerous shipments of legitimate drugs delayed by authorities in the Netherlands have elevated doubts and may mean potentially thousands of patients put at risk.