Original news and analysis on international IP policy
CEO Andrew Witty of UK pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline today announced the launch of an agenda on “open innovation,” through which it promises increased flexibility over its intellectual property as well as partnerships in which its facilities, infrastructure, and actual chemical…
The first public discussion of an expert report on how to finance the often costly process of research and development to create new medicines, vaccines and diagnostics needed by the poor to address diseases that disproportionately effect them began this week at the World Health Organization. There were immediate concerns about the last-minute release of the report’s full text and concerns from several governments that it came up short on critical areas, and it was decided that an informal consultation process will take place over the next few months. Meanwhile, World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan said she has already begun an investigation to find out who leaked drafts of the expert group’s work to an international industry group in December.
China is expected to implement changes that will allow foreign distributors to import audiovisual entertainment products in China without trade being narrowed by state-owned channels after it lost its dispute case against the United States at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The recommendations of the dispute settlement panel and the Appellate Body were adopted today by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.
The intellectual property system seems to be tight at the seams with a global overload of work for national IP offices and a backlog in patent requests. Further international cooperation and some adjustments are necessary to keep an efficient high quality IP system, according to speakers at a private-sector meeting in Geneva on 14-15 January.
The World Health Organization today declared it will launch a review of the global – including its own - response to the H1N1 swine influenza epidemic, as questions swirl around whether the UN agency trumped up the importance of H1N1. The WHO also faces charges this week that it has acted without transparency and inclusiveness in leading a process to find alternative financing for research and development into medicines for diseases occurring predominately in developing countries.
The full text of a report by an expert working group under the auspices of the World Health Organization tasked with finding innovative ways to finance research and development for neglected diseases is now available from the WHO website here.…
The future design of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the role of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in internet governance and the ability of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to resolve issues from new generic top-level domains to further internationalisation - these are the top policy issues in internet governance in 2010 and they are all linked to the question about how many governments and how much “multi-stakeholderism“ effective internet governance needs.
The cultures of indigenous peoples have frequently been ignored when global standards on intellectual property were being set, a new United Nations report has stated.
Finding financing to develop medicines for under-researched diseases, regulatory harmonisation, and pandemic influenza preparedness will top the agenda at next week’s World Health Organization Executive Board meeting.
2010 could be a big year for intellectual property law in the United States. Five cases now working their way through the courts may bring major changes to the country’s patent and copyright laws, affect hundreds billions of dollars in commerce, and enable a revolutionary new use for the internet.
Two separate trade associations this week announced leadership changes to kick off the New Year. The International Trademark Association (INTA) named its 2010 president on 1 January. Heather Steinmeyer, lead counsel for intellectual property at WellPoint Inc, a US Fortune…
An expert working group under the auspices of the World Health Organization tasked with finding ways to finance research and development for diseases that disproportionately affect the poor has released its much-anticipated report. The report is available here [pdf]. After…