Vaccines Alliance Gets New CEO
A key Geneva-based public-private initiative to increase global vaccination has named a new CEO.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
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Medicines Patent Pool Aims To Increase Access To HIV Drugs In Developing Countries
The newly created Medicines Patent Pool promises to increase access to HIV/AIDS medications in developing markets. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the pool operates a scheme in which pharmaceutical patent holders voluntarily licence their drugs to generic manufacturers who then produce more affordable versions for patients in poorer countries
Media Piracy In Emerging Economies Report Stirs Debate
A large (440-page) new report on media piracy in emerging economies is stirring significant debate in internet copyright and open access circles, as it purports to turn rights owner assertions and the basis for developed country IP policy on their heads.
Commerce Secretary Locke Nominated US Ambassador To China
US President Obama today nominated current US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be ambassador to China. US intellectual property rights holders see it as a positive contribution to what they see as a fight against massive piracy and counterfeiting from China.
UN Rapporteur On Food Offers Long-Term Answer To Food Crisis: Agroecology
The annual report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, to the sixteenth session of the UN Human Rights Council yesterday is unequivocal. There must be a global agricultural shift toward more productive, environmentally friendly, sustainable modes of production, using natural resources to remediate world hunger, away from industrialised agriculture. In short, the world needs a shift to agroecology.
Free Press Changes Leaders
Free Press, a US non-profit working to reform media, announced that its president is stepping down after almost a decade, to be replaced by the current managing director in mid-April.
Law Firms Making Changes To IP Staff
A number of law firms and a key trademark industry group have made changes in recent weeks aimed at boosting their intellectual property practices.
Canada Considers Amendment To Compulsory Licensing Regime For Medicines Access
The Canadian Parliament is on the verge of amending the nation’s patent regime to make it easier for generic drug companies to provide low-cost HIV medications for developing countries.
New Director For Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has announced the appointment of a new executive director.
Panel: Help Needed With IP Implications Of Nagoya Protocol On Genetic Resources
The new international agreement on access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources has many IP implications, according to panellists at an event last week. And at least one United Nations agency is launching an effort to help countries with those IP implications.
Governments, ICANN Still Deep In Negotiations Over New Internet Domains
BRUSSELS - In an arm-wrestling exercise, governments and the Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) last week tried to reach common ground on intellectual property rights protection and governments' ability to intervene with applications for new top-level domains that they see as “sensitive” or “vulnerable” like .nazi, .gay or .bank.
US Panel Puts Google, Facebook, Communications Platforms On Human Rights Frontline
Recent events in the Arab region have brought the issue of access to the internet and social platforms sharply into the spotlight as governments have tried to block or limit internet access and cut millions of people from communication. A United States-hosted panel discussion in Geneva yesterday brought together representatives of Google, Facebook, and Access, a civil society group defending digital freedom.