Category English

Strong EU Trade Provisions On IP Seen As Threat To Poor Nations’ Medicines Access

BRUSSELS - Efforts by the European Union to insert strong provisions on pharmaceutical patents in a series of free trade agreements it is negotiating could imperil access to medicines in developing countries, global public health activists have alleged.

As part of trade talks being conducted with India, Colombia, Peru and a regional grouping in south-east Asia, EU officials have proposed that drug-makers should benefit from a robust intellectual property regime. National regulatory authorities in the countries concerned would be prevented for lengthy periods from using data provided by a company that holds a drug patent in order to authorise a generic version of that medicine.

Intellectual Property Watch Website Updated

Readers may have noticed a few changes to the Intellectual Property Watch website, which we hope will make us easier to use as we bring you the same great content like breaking and in-depth stories and expert views, plus new features like a microblog (the IP Burble), better subscription management, improved search capabilities, a new discussion forum, more podcasts and other products and services.

For those signed up to our RSS feed, you will need to update your feed reader with the following new feed address: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/ip-watch

For personal subscriptions, please always use your email address to login on the new website (your password is unchanged). If any doubt, you can request a new password below the login form.

If you are part of a group subscription, the administrator of your group has received or will receive new instructions.

If you have questions, email us at info@ip-watch.ch.

New Draft Ethiopian IP Law, Says Local Newspaper

The Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) has finished a draft intellectual property law that would help pave the way for fuller membership in the Geneva institutions, according to a local news source from the country. The unconfirmed article says EIPO…

Internet Governance Policy In 2009: Transition To New Digital Oversight

This year could be a transitional one for global internet governance policy, as the internet’s technical oversight body may finally lose its ties to the United States, the next generation internet comes into its own, the UN Internet Governance Forum will be reviewed, and the world could see the rapid spread of new internet domains.

Proponents Explore Designs For Prizes To Aid Neglected Disease Research

The World Health Organization global strategy on public health, innovation and intellectual property calls for the exploration of alternative mechanisms to incentivise research and development, including the use of prize funds. A diverse group of non-governmental agencies, government and pharmaceutical industry representatives recently looked at prize funds in detail, to determine different possible approaches and where they might best be applied to medical innovations.

ISP Liability, Limitations And Exceptions Top Global Copyright Issues In 2009

The Year Ahead: Copyright has taken centre stage again this year as the battle over internet service provider (ISP) responsibility for digital piracy intensifies and spreads around the world. 2009 will also feature growing global pressure for a more harmonised system of copyright limitations and exceptions, and continuing controversy over the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

Taubman Of WIPO Picked To Head WTO IP Division

By Kaitlin Mara and William New Antony Taubman, acting director and head of the Global Intellectual Property Issues Division at the World Intellectual Property Organization, has been named to the top IP position at the World Trade Organization, the WTO…