Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Health Organization’s team on issues of intellectual property and innovation in public health is seeing changes in key personnel, as implementation of the UN health agency’s plan on IP and innovation hits its stride. Malebona Precious Matsoso has been named Director General of Health for South Africa.
Negotiations to protect and preserve biodiversity are in a delicate place, as proponents of stronger protection attempt to navigate parallel discussions at different intergovernmental agencies.
The Obama administration supports changes to the United States patent reform bill, said US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke in a letter sent late yesterday to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The amendments in question would allow the US…
The World Health Organization needs to streamline its functions and make more space for civil society, and international health systems must be strengthened in order to achieving public health goals, said panellists at this week’s Geneva Health Forum.
Patent reform in America will spur high-paying job creation and economic growth, claims a new paper by senior economic officials at the US Department of Commerce and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Issued as the US Congress weighs patent…
A prepared-for-the-public version of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement under negotiation by leading economies has now been released online. The release comes after increased public and civil society outcry over a non-transparent negotiating process and fears that the treaty would lead…
Public health authorities and observers in Geneva this week are discussing problems and possible solutions to medicines pricing and availability in developing countries. But concerns were raised yesterday about a World Health Organization expert group on medicines access and innovation.
Several members of the European Parliament today sent letters to the directors general of the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization requesting technical assistance in the negotiation of an agreement that some are calling an attempt to circumvent global norms on intellectual property enforcement and related public interest flexibility.
A review of the World Health Organization’s response to the 2009 pandemic influenza outbreak kicked off this week, with firm statements from those involved in the response that they were not unduly influenced by outside stakeholders. Still, serious questions remain about the coordination effort, as a nearly a year after the pandemic was declared developed countries find themselves having to dispose of excess vaccines while poorer countries are reporting they have yet to obtain as many as they need.
Neelie Kroes, European Commission vice president and commissioner for the Digital Agenda spoke today about the future of the internet. In Valencia, Spain for a conference, she emphasised the importance of public-private partnerships, characterised innovation as “the only way to…
Today, board members of international drug purchasing mechanism UNITAID approved a 2010 budget for a pioneering patent pool initiative.
The US Government Accountability Office, an agency that works as a “congressional watchdog” investigating how taxpayer money is spent, has released a new report on intellectual property. The report [pdf] reviews the economic effects of counterfeiting and piracy. It finds…