Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a health financing institution focused on the global South, is poised this week to select its next director – from the North. And while the selection process has been conducted in the utmost secrecy, confidential selection documents show that the list is down to four candidates, said to be from Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Cebu City, Philippines – The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met over the weekend to advance the groundwork for what is perceived as a challenging but progressing task of harmonising their e-commerce laws, ahead of the region's nearing deadline of creating an integrated economy by 2015.
The industry practice of extending patent protection on pharmaceuticals by obtaining additional patents on other features of the drug ingredients can lead to decades of delay in generic competition, a new study argues.
World Health Organization members this week achieved consensus on a set of voluntary targets and indicators for the prevention and control of the world’s biggest killers including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases. Two targets and several indicators relate to national health systems response.
The European Union’s global plan for health, development cooperation includes the commitment that high-quality medicines and care in the developing world be available without restrictions. As such, despite its growing impact and strong investment in product R&D, the plan seemingly lacks adequate coherence, innovative financing, and coordination, collaboration with concerned parties. Filling these gaps would be a matter of priority and a way for the EU to achieve indisputable field leadership.
The only independent external oversight body of the United Nations has launched a new website, making it easier to access its reports dating back to 1968, and other information.
An outside meeting of experts has prepared a report ahead of this month’s gathering of World Health Organization members hoping to agree on new models for financing research and development for diseases lacking adequate market mechanisms and public policies. These include neglected diseases that predominantly affect poor populations unable to pay high prices needed to defray R&D costs under the existing commercial model.
Baku, Azerbaijan - The need to bring all stakeholders together to discuss the future of copyright appears to have gotten a push from this year’s UN-led Internet Governance Forum.
The government of India has released a set of draft guidelines to be followed in the patenting of traditional knowledge and biological material. Comments are due by 22 November.
Members of the World Trade Organization intellectual property rights committee today launched their first-ever debate on IP and innovation. In addition, least developed countries formally requested an extension of their transition period to enforce WTO rules on IPRs.
Baku, Azerbaijan - Over 100 workshops related to policies and technologies of the internet – including side events, open fora by United Nations and internet governance organisations, and gatherings of the “dynamic coalitions” - are on the agenda of the 7th UN Internet Governance Forum, which started Tuesday in Baku, Azerbaijan.
US voters returned President Obama for four more years, and kept his party's dominance of the US Senate as well as the opposition party's dominance of the House of Representatives. While the Obama administration has generally allied itself with copyright interests, some see the possibility of a reversal in the US Congress of a trend toward stronger copyright protection.