Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A seminar on innovation and access to medicine last week examined the issue of access to hepatitis C treatment, looking at the HIV/AIDS path. Voluntary licences, such as the one entered by Gilead for its hepatitis drugs, have been applauded but such licences often do not cover middle-income countries, which are home to the bulk of hepatitis C patients, and whose poor populations remain unable to access treatment.
Last week’s United Nations draft report for the post-2015 sustainable development goals under negotiation calls for continued progress toward sweeping improvements in the lives of all people and the health of the planet, including ensuring that intellectual property rights are respected but do not get in the way.
Gender differences persist in the field of intellectual property, but there are signs of change, and new proposals are emerging for bringing greater balance, a US professor told a gathering at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week.
A recent paper proposes that countries use the access and benefit-sharing mechanism of the Nagoya Protocol to ensure conservation action and effective implementation of the protocol.
From EDRi: Ville Oksanen, Vice President and a founding member of Electronic Frontier Finland (Effi), passed away on Sunday 23 November 2014 in Helsinki from a sudden illness. He was 37 years old.
A civil society coalition is after one of European Monsanto's patents, accusing the giant seed corporation of biopiracy. The patent granted in February was challenged by the No Patents on Seeds coalition, which filed an opposition a few days ago.
For the first time, the European Advocate-General has suggested on the grounds of European competition law the context for negotiations of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, and has set criteria for the enforcement of injunctions and other remedies in actions involving infringement of standard-essential patents (SEPs). The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decision is still pending.
The Association of European Performers’ Organisations (AEPO-ARTIS) has released a study showing that EU legislation does not provide adequate protection to performers for the legal exploitation of their performances on the internet.
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) has announced a licence agreement with pharmaceutical manufacturer AbbVie to allow the production of cheaper, more accessible paediatric versions of two HIV medicines.
China has set up an administrative office called the Shanghai City Pudong New Area Intellectual Property Office, integrating patent, trademark and copyright administration in the Pudong New Area in Shanghai city.
The fate of a potential treaty meant to harmonise international industrial design registration formalities took another turn this week, as African countries asked that the treaty include a safeguard against misuse and misappropriation of their traditional designs, which was seen by developed countries as a manoeuvre to delay the process.
Alberto Bichi is secretary-general of the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), based in Brussels. In an interview with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez, he describes FESI's mission, the views of the industry on the importance of intellectual property protection, and the growing issue of counterfeiting. He also talked about the industry's concern over the current European Union customs regulation on goods in transit, which, according to him is negatively impacting the sector.