Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Executive Board of UNITAID yesterday adopted a resolution on the use of the intellectual property flexibilities enshrined in the global trading system allowing developing countries to facilitate access to affordable medicines.
BANGKOK – Countries in Southeast Asia have launched a 10-year action plan to strengthen their intellectual property rights cooperation, with the European Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization providing financial and technical assistance in helping the countries to achieve their goals.
After a day spent in informal meetings to try to agree on what should be the future work of the World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee, delegates had to admit defeat. The main point of contention, according to sources, was the request by developing countries that the committee work on the issue of patents and access to medicines, and address the recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines. This request was met by blunt refusal by some developed countries as beyond the realm of the work of the committee.
A new report by two civil society groups explores what they say are discrepancies between European Union and provider country laws implementing the Nagoya Protocol on genetic resources, which they say could lead to legal uncertainties for users and providers.
The European Union and Canada held an informal meeting in Geneva this week to present a project for a multilateral investment court to handle global investor-state disputes, hoping to draw interest and questions by other country delegates, according to sources. Time will be needed to gain acceptance of the idea, they said, and the next opportunity will be at the January World Economic Forum in Davos.
The World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee this week became the latest venue for the global debate over the system to provide incentives to the pharmaceutical industry to find new medicines while ensuring all patients have access to those medicines. Most developing countries want the committee to discuss the recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, while most developed countries disagree. The tone is rising, and the issue could come as a hurdle as countries decide the future work of the committee.
The International Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organisation, today was granted observer status at the United Nations General Assembly, given business a direct voice in the UN system for the first time ever, the ICC announced.
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 European Commission and the Canadian government today and tomorrow are hosting a first meeting for talks on a new multilateral investment court. Such a court could, the European Commission explained in an announcement, become the follow-up mechanism for the existing investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions that are part of 3,200 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements around the world.
The World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee is a unique international forum where discussions about the patent system are held. The committee meeting this week is a display of different views of developed and developing countries on how the patent system is expected to meet their needs.
The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case over whether companies that make copycat versions of biologic drugs must wait six months after winning federal approval before bringing them to the market.
From extracurricular creativity to global campaigns, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) continues in its activities to raise awareness and explore how universities can best direct their research and innovations towards promoting global access to medicines. In the next year, UAEM will extend its national and international campaigns to address the high prices of medicines, continue to gather support for a global agreement on research and development and build on the mapping alternative R&D initiatives.