Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Medicines Patent Pool has announced a ground-breaking collaboration with a private sector joint venture that it said will facilitate greater availability of critical medicines for children with HIV worldwide. The announcement caused a wave of positive reactions across the public health community, with many hoping for more in the future.
With the threat of suspension of work looming, the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee of the Law of Patents (SCP) agreed to a minimal programme of work, which includes exceptions and limitations to patent rights, quality of patents, and patents and health. Delegates made significant concessions on all sides, but the Africa Group expressed particular disappointment in the limited commitment to work on the patents and health topic.
As of 1 February 2013, a specialised court for intellectual property rights (the IPR Court) is instituted within the system of commercial (‘arbitrazh’) courts of the Russian Federation.
Johannesburg, South Africa - Africa is still held captive by colonial borders and has failed to collectively leverage benefit-sharing agreements that result from multinationals’commercial pursuit of indigenous knowledge, said speakers at the Africa IP conference this week.
The role of intellectual property in a wide range of public health challenges - access to medicines, vaccine prices, procurement strategies, and research for diseases of the poor - is a focal point in 2013 cutting across national, regional, and international policymaking.
Johannesburg - There are strong indications that South Africa may join – and lead the charge - in the establishment of the controversial Pan-African Intellectual Property Office (PAIPO).
In an open letter to the US Congress House of Representatives Judiciary Committee today (27 February), a coalition of agencies, entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators, urged Congress to take action against "patent trolls, non-practicing patent-holding entities.
As the World Intellectual Property Organization’s patent law committee grapples with starkly differing positions on the topic of patents and health, the secretariats of WIPO, the World Health Organization and World Trade Organization presented to members how their first trilateral study on access to medical technologies and innovation could be used as an effective resource. While the secretariats emphasised the neutral, informative nature of the book, some members pointed to a need for greater analysis of the challenges developing countries face when trying to use patent flexibilities for access to medicines.
Johannesburg, South Africa -- The start of the Africa IP conference was the scene of a surprise protest action by Treatment Action Campaign health activists who ambushed the stage as South African Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies was about to welcome delegates to the three-day conference.
The United Kingdom government has announced a change to the UK Patents Act that it says will help keep the country’s life sciences industry at the forefront of innovation by removing certain risks of drug development companies infringing patents.
New research shows that more rigid laws regulating hazardous chemicals encourage innovation in both large and small companies, according to a report published by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).
A United Nations agency has linked shipments of fraudulent pharmaceuticals with cocaine trafficking and smuggling of migrants as illegal activities carried out by transnational organised crime syndicates that are contributing to instability in West Africa.