Category Patents/Designs/Trade Secrets

Clinical Trial Reporting Biased; Full Disclosure, Transparency Needed, Speakers Say

A conference on clinical drug trials held today shed a harsh light on the availability and honesty of clinical trial reports. Many factors concur to possible distortion of results, speakers said, calling for more stringent obligations to provide all data for analysis. They also noted legislative efforts to tackle the issue. Speakers also pointed out a growing trend for pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical trials in developing countries.

Gurry Speaks On Allegations For First Time As WIPO Members Discuss Actions

Heading into next week’s annual UN World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies, WIPO member states are considering a report from the United Nations investigations office regarding allegations of wrongdoing made involving WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. And for first time since the allegations arose, Gurry has offered his defence. Spoiler alert: he neither confirmed nor denied it but raised questions about the legality of sharing the report with member states.

Voluntary Sustainability Standards: Virtue Enhancers Or Trade Discriminatory?

Voluntary standards are seen by some as acting as barriers to trade, in particular for developing countries unable to meet the requirements of those private standards. At the World Trade Organization Public Forum, two panels presented two approaches, one looking at governments' role in voluntary sustainability standards, and launching a report by a multi-agency United Nations initiative on those standards. The other one focused on the challenges private standards can represent for developing countries.

US Supreme Court To Examine Outsized Infringement Damages

Patent infringers are supposed to pay damages, but the award in this case struck many as ridiculous. Some Samsung smartphones contained one or two purely decorative design elements that had been patented by Apple. But instead of paying modest damages for what many see as a tiny infringement, Samsung was ordered to pay $399 million – all the profits the company had made from its infringing phones. The Federal Circuit said it had no choice but to approve those damages; it was constrained by statute. Critics, however, said that the Federal Circuit had misinterpreted the statute. They fret the court’s error will unleash a wave of design patent infringement suits that will harm innovation, stifle competition, and empower patent trolls. Which is why so many will be paying close attention on 11 October, when this dispute comes before the US Supreme Court.

Regional Trade Agreements Address Issues Missed By Multilateralism, Speakers Say

Although regional trade agreements are increasing, there is no hiding the fact that they are meeting rising resistance from the public and are difficult to negotiate. At the World Trade Organization Public Forum this week, an industry panel sought to explore how trade agreements could be linked to the WTO process, and if elements of those agreements could be taken on at the multilateral level.

Intergovernmental Organisations Swap Notes On Working For Inclusive Trade

If world trade is to be more inclusive it needs to assess a populist backlash against trade that is occurring in different parts of the world, says Jean-Baptiste Velut, an associate professor at Sorbonne Nouvelle University of Paris. Velut was introducing a panel yesterday during the 5th World Trade Organization Public Forum, an annual event that brings together stakeholders and members of the public to discuss trade issues, with the focus this year on inclusive trade.

WTO Public Forum Opens Against Gloomy Global Trade Perspectives

The 15th World Trade Organization Public Forum, an annual event that brings together stakeholders and members of the public to discuss trade issues, opened today. This year, the focus is on inclusive trade. During the opening session, participants underlined the need for support of micro enterprises, in particular in developing countries. Also today, the WTO released its trade statistics and outlook for 2016, which announced the slowest pace of trade and output growth since the 2009 financial crisis.