Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus began his first week as director-general of the UN World Health Organization by addressing the WHO staff with his vision for the organisation and the world. Top of the list? Humanity.
The intergovernmental Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, has published a freely available report on exceptions and limitations to copyright. The report comes as a contribution to the ongoing process of reforming European copyright rules.
The Canadian Supreme Court today upheld a pharmaceutical industry appeal against a tool used in certain cases to overturn patents on products that could be seen as not meriting a patent monopoly. The ruling could effectively block a generic version of a patented drug from being on the market.
The European Patent Office today issued a clarification about the patenting of plant and animal products, putting it in line with a European Commission clarification that such products obtained through a biological breeding process should not be patentable.
The United Nations Human Rights Council today adopted a resolution on the right to health in relation to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including a call for medicines and vaccines access for all. The resolution also requested the UN human rights commissioner to report on the right to health.
World Health Organization Director-Elect Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in touring the United States this week, visiting key funders of the WHO, partner international organisations, US government agencies and nongovernmental organisations, and a Canadian ministry.
An unusual meeting is taking place at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week, bringing together entrepreneurs in water and sanitation technology and business models with prospective investors, including clean-tech venture capitalists, private equity and corporate investors.
Celebrating their tenth anniversary of working together, the intellectual property offices of Europe, Japan, Korea, China and the United States today concluded a meeting of the so-called IP5 by announcing efforts to further harmonise their patent practices. This includes measures affecting global instruments like the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
A range of civil society groups and companies today urged the European Union to embrace a more ambitious agenda for reform of the Union's copyright law.
Member governments of the World Health Organization are increasingly talking about how to bring about “fair” pricing of medicines. And what’s clear is that it should not be based on how much you would pay to save your life, a senior WHO official said this week.
The annual World Health Assembly will address several issues related to intellectual property and innovation, Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general for health systems and innovation at the World Health Organization, said in an interview this week. But a new initiative at WHO on fair pricing of medical products may not be among them in a significant way. [Update: the latest on the state of play on the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines is being provided in real time below.]
The World Intellectual Property Organization this week has striven to show its commitment to contributing to the debate on intellectual property and health, and the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, through advancement of its Re:Search program for the next five years.