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US Could Agree To Slight Funding Increase At WHO Despite Trump Threats

President Donald Trump’s promise to cut US funding to United Nations agencies has sent shock waves around the UN, but in a budget discussion at the World Health Organization Executive Board meeting today, the US delegation did not reject outright a call by WHO to increase government contributions to the organisation. Meanwhile, the WHO budget shows a deficit and many WHO members asked the WHO how it plans to remedy the situation and find solutions to reach financial sustainability.

WHO Director Candidates Down To Three, Europe Drops In Ranking

The number of candidates to be the next director general of the World Health Organization was reduced from five to three tonight, with Ethiopia, Pakistan and the United Kingdom still in the running. But in a race as unpredictable as this one, delegates and observers in the hallway were both surprised and not surprised by the outcome as Europe fell to the bottom of the list.

Year Ahead: Copyright Issues Rank High On EU To-Do List This Year

Copyright, copyright and more copyright tops Europe's intellectual property agenda for 2017. With the EU institutions mulling major reforms to copyright laws, publishers are pushing for a right to bar unauthorised copying or reuse of their content for commercial purposes, audiovisual authors for fair remuneration for use of their works on platforms like YouTube. The European Commission will begin reviewing the enforcement of IP rights as well as delving further into issues related to liability of platforms for infringement. But there are many patent issues too, including plant variety protection, patent incentives, and the ongoing unitary patent court.

Canada-Europe Trade Agreement: One More Vote To Clear

Just a day after US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament passed a recommendation in favour of adopting the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU. Meanwhile, the EU Trade Commissioner said trade is not to blame and the EU will negotiate many trade deals this year.

It’s Official: TRIPS Health Amendment In Effect, First Ever To A WTO Agreement

More than a decade after World Trade Organization member states approved the first-ever legal amendment to a WTO agreement, the change to the international intellectual property agreement has entered into effect. Five more members ratified the amendment in recent days, bringing supporters over the minimum needed to put into effect the amendment aimed at boosting exports of medical products made under compulsory licence.

WHO Board: UN Report On Medicines Too Hot; DG Candidates To Be Narrowed

At the opening of the World Health Organization Executive Board meeting today, a call by India for an agenda item on the report of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines was denied. Meanwhile, WHO’s director general underlined the success of the organisation over the last year, including new financing arrangements with industry groups to finance the WHO Prequalification Programme. But all eyes are riveted to the election process for the new WHO director general, as three out of the six candidates are expected to be short-listed this week.

Disruptive Technologies Pose Challenge To IP Protection, Speakers In Thailand Say

BANGKOK – So-called disruptive innovation - currently referring to the technologies of Internet of Things, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and big data – are changing the way people live their life and affecting existing traditional industries, but current legal regimes are unequipped to deal with these changes yet, government and private experts said at a recent forum here.

Giving Process Its Due When An SDO Changes Rules Of The Game

George Willingmyre writes: The process a Standards Developing Organization (SDO) employs to revise its patent policy is an aspect of the SDO’s competitive posture in the global marketplace. A dearth of research exists on the processes SDOs employ to revise their patent policies. Generally, the processes an SDO uses to revise its patent policy are part of the governance processes of the SDO. As a baseline, the governance processes of an SDO must be consistent with the applicable legal system defining what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. What an SDO says about its governance processes is a further consideration. Thus the procedures themselves, the procedures’ relationship to the applicable legal system and what the SDO says about the procedures all play a role in understanding how an SDO revises its patent policy.

IP Law In The US: A Look Ahead

Whatever else could be said of 2016, it was undeniably interesting. That’s likely to be true, too, for 2017. Even the staid area of US Intellectual Property Law may face dramatic changes. Here's the likely most important of those changes.