Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Opening a conference on patent quality today, United States Patent and Trademark Office Director Michele Lee highlighted efforts of the administration in improving the quality of patents and addressing backlog of patent applications. Patent backlog is down by one-third since the start of the Obama administration, she said.
The United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has released a report on encryption, taking the perspective of human rights.
Veteran public health advocate Els Torreele of Belgium has been named the new executive director of the high-profile Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) Access Campaign, based in Geneva.
Thomas Cueni of Switzerland has been named the next director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), the Geneva-based organisation which represents the global research-based pharma industry.
Cristiana Paşca Palmer of Romania has been named executive secretary of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Patent assertion entity (PAE) activity has skyrocketed in the past decade and much discussion has occurred around what to do in response to patent holders whose strategy is more focused on legal battles than innovating. One notable group has risen up to bring together global companies to address the PAE issue with a novel sharing approach. In an interview with Intellectual Property Watch, Ken Seddon, CEO and President of LOT Network, talks about the group's rapid growth, what's coming next, and how not to bring a squirt gun to a nuclear fight.
Pfizer Board Chairman and CEO Ian Read has been elected as the next president of the Geneva-based International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), a two-year role.
The UN World Health Organization this week clarified that the possibility exists for the WHO Executive Board to discuss a recently released report from a UN Secretary General-appointed panel that makes recommendations for improving global access to medicines.
As 16 Asia and Pacific nations prepare to meet in Indonesia next week for the next round of negotiations for a large regional trade agreement called RCEP, more than 300 civil society groups signed a letter urging negotiators to reject efforts to bring in texts from the separate Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The government of Dominica has deposited its instrument of acceptance of the 2005 so-called "paragraph 6" amendment to international intellectual property trade rules aimed at making it easier for countries to export affordable medical products to developing countries. Dominica's signing brings the number of signers to 65 percent of WTO members, according to the WTO. Two-thirds of WTO members must accept it for the amendment to go into effect, but it is unclear exactly how many members that represents. It appears that two or three more members will tip the scale.