Category English

US, WIPO Officials Assess Patent Reform, PCT, Copyright Priorities

NEW YORK - Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the United States are “hotlining” colleagues to ascertain if there is any objection to moving patent reform quickly through the US Senate, a representative of a major stakeholder in the debate said here Friday. Meanwhile, the US Copyright Office is working to get its priorities through a restructured Congress, and a World Intellectual Property Organization official warned of a possible divide in WIPO's norm-setting activities.

WIPO Traditional Knowledge Committee Moving Toward Legal Agreement

A World Intellectual Property Organization committee tasked with finding an international instrument to prevent the misappropriation of traditional knowledge, folklore, and genetic resources has begun in earnest text-based discussions and is now working to find an agreement on extra meetings intended to speed the process towards creating an international legal instrument.

First Arabic Domains Join Internet

For the first time in the history of the internet, non-Latin top-level domains are available in the domain name system. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers yesterday concluded the process to insert Egypt: مصر (Egypt), Saudi Arabia: السعودية…

India Overturns Patent On AIDS Patient Drug

The Chennai Patent Office in India last week overturned the patent on Valganciclovir, an expensive drug used to prevent an infection to which people with HIV/AIDS or organ recipients are susceptible, an Indian lawyers’ group said today. The patent office…

Biotech Convention Pays Homage To IP, Pledges To Increase Access To Medicine

Intellectual property rights and access to medicines were on the agenda at the first day of a biotechnology industry group’s annual convention yesterday. The group held a panel on IP rights and also released a policy statement on access to medicine in developing countries. The director of the US Patent and Trademark Office commented positively on the initiative.

Health Initiative Proposes Rewarding Innovation On Impact Results; Some See Hurdles

An alternative initiative to promote access to medicine with a method mimicking market mechanisms means to create additional incentives for health innovation, authors of the proposal said yesterday. But other health actors have reservations.

A public event was organised yesterday to discuss how the Health Impact Fund (HIF) could fit within existing structures and what challenges it could face.

Coordination Mechanism Adopted For WIPO Development Agenda Implementation

A mechanism to watch the continuing implementation of development-oriented principles into the World Intellectual Property Organization’s work has now been found. For many, the Development Agenda is the most important agreement in WIPO’s recent past, and the mechanism - which will monitor, assess and report on its implementation - was a critical area of importance in ensuring it reaches its full potential.