Original news and analysis on international IP policy
NEW YORK – Speakers at a side event to the United Nations General Assembly last week commended a new report on access to medicines prepared by a high-level panel hand-chosen by the UN secretary general as containing fresh ideas and the potential to bring change to a longstanding problem.
The World Health Organization today released the list of candidates to be the next director general of the UN health agency in Geneva. Of the six candidates, four are from the European region.
NEW YORK -- The membership of the United Nations today agreed a political declaration on antimicrobial resistance, elevating the global fight against overuse and misuse of antibiotics – and lack of new antibiotics – to the highest political level. The declaration struck by world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York includes mention of separating medicine prices from the cost of research and development, and calls on the UN secretary-general to create an interagency coordination group. Now - as framed by many governments, intergovernmental organisations and nongovernmental representatives - attention moves to implementation of actions aimed at staving off this threat to humanity itself.
Major pharmaceutical companies today issued a roadmap they said aims to bring solutions to the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The plan, issued on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance, targets environmental impact, use of antibiotics only by those who need them, improved access to medical products, and public-private partnerships.
The European Court of Justice today ruled that a shop offering Wifi is not liable for copyright infringements on its network but may be forced by rightsholders to require passwords to use the network. [Update: Reactions are being added below]
The nomination of Sylvie Forbin of France to be the next head of copyright issues at the World Intellectual Property Organization was finalised yesterday as the WIPO Coordination Committee approved her appointment. She starts work at WIPO on Monday.
About a dozen members of the World Intellectual Property Organization yesterday demanded to be provided with a report conducted by the United Nations Office of Investigation and Oversight Services (OIOS) on allegations against the WIPO director general.
On 12 September, a powerful member-state committee at the World Intellectual Property Organization will consider the nomination of a new head of copyright, and a sensitive agenda item on a highly secret UN report on whether the WIPO director general engaged in wrongdoing.
A hyperlink on a website that links to copyrighted material and does not have the rights holder's consent may be allowable if for non-commercial purposes, the Court of Justice of the European Union said today. But it may infringe copyright if linked for profit and with knowledge of the lack of permission to link it, it said.
From a press release issued today: "House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) today sent a letter to World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, criticizing the WTO Secretariat’s stance on measures it views as protectionist, and urging the office to better support the rules-based global trading system."
The United States Copyright Office systematically hires officials from the copyright industries it serves and oversees, while excluding experts with other views, a public interest group has charged. Image Credits: US Copyright Office
The World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee (PBC) this week agreed to recommend changes to the UN agency’s Internal Oversight Charter as a high priority by next month, including to strengthen investigatory processes against senior officials, and access to confidential documents by member states. In a separate issue, after days of intensive talks behind closed doors, the committee could not agree on which countries will get new WIPO external offices. [Update: decision document added]