Original news and analysis on international IP policy
An analysis of available information indicates that research-oriented product development partnerships (PDPs) are seen as providing a better approach to neglected diseases than most other public-private partnerships. Yet, in spite of many positive results, PDPs still have a limited impact in developing countries.
A panel of professionals working in the design industry this week gave their views on the interaction between intellectual property, innovation and design.
A panel of experts gathered at the Graduate Institute in Geneva last week discussed how to secure collective action to provide global public goods through research and development (R&D) for the particular public health needs of low and middle income countries.
European Union (EU) Commissioner for Environment, Janez Potocnik, during a recent visit to Geneva, elaborated on the global challenges the world faces and on the strategic choices they impose, with a regional focus on Europe. He said the rise in human population that we will observe in the upcoming years raises questions regarding the management of natural resources. In that respect, Potocnik explained the need to rethink our current economic system and the way innovation is carried out.
Last week’s event on the “the role of innovation in creating a dynamic and competitive economy,” held at the 65th session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), gave an opportunity to a panel of experts to discuss the role of innovation in the current European economic circumstances as a tool to improve productivity and competitiveness by different means.
A new report finds that an overview is needed of the fast-tracking patent system on “green” technologies in the countries where this mechanism is in place – in seven industrialised and two developing countries.
In a press briefing at the United Nations today, World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry described what he qualified as a robust growth in applications for patents, designs and trademarks despite the economic climate.
A recent conference of AROPI (Association Romande de Propriété Intellectuelle), an association of intellectual property practitioners in French-speaking Switzerland, examined how sports and IP interact.
Swiss innovation is internationally recognised for its high quality, and the reasons may derive from its fiscal system, labour market, research and development (R&D) model and education policy, a senior Swiss official has said.
At a recent conference jointly organised by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID, Geneva) and the Museum of Art and History of Geneva, academics tackled the question of the preservation of culture - in its natural and cultural dimension - against the risks of globalisation.
The United Nations has become a focal point for global efforts to fight organised crime’s trafficking of fraudulent medicines that put millions of people – especially the poor – at risk. And a recent pharmaceutical industry report on such medicines recommended some solutions.
Alongside the World Intellectual Property Organization meeting on protection of genetic resources last week, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) organised a side event on natural product research.