Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The 13th Commercial Court of Appeal recently affirmed the decision of the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg in Russia’s leading P2P case ruling that the social network vKontakte, a Facebook lookalike, is liable for copyright infringement.
The shadow of the tobacco industry was present at last week’s annual World Health Assembly, featuring the villain in what World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan called a theatre of the absurd. The tactics of the "evil industry," as she called it, aimed at undermining countries' efforts to implement tobacco control legislations were illustrated with concrete country examples at a side event during the week.
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the patenting of essential biological processes.
The question of the use of material in the public domain for the inspiration of new works has been complicated in South Africa by legislation which purports to grant retrospective perpetual protection to so-called “traditional works”. A case pending in the South African High Court highlights the question of what is “traditional” and raises the question of to whom music companies will have to look in the future to obtain permission to use anything that smacks of a traditional flavour. Prof. Owen Dean asks: Could this be a disincentive to use traditional material belonging in the public domain and thus slow cultural expression?
With a generous pledge and a grand vision, Bill Gates launched the “Decade of Vaccines” two years ago. By endorsing a “Global Vaccine Action Plan” during the World Health Assembly, the world’s health authority stands as the lead agency in advancing the initiative.
One year since the adoption of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework, member states emphasised the importance of bio-sharing initiative and in some in cases raised concerns about the pace of implementation.
A full day and an evening of informal discussions was not enough for the World Intellectual Property Organization member states to reach agreement on the future work of the patent committee yesterday. Developed and developing countries held firm to their positions after reconvening in plenary past midnight, with disappointment as sole common ground.
World Health Organization member states have decided to establish a new mechanism for international collaboration to prevent and control “substandard, spurious, falsely-labelled, falsified and counterfeit medical products” (SSFFC). Excluding trade and intellectual property considerations, this mechanism is called to approach the problem strictly from a public health perspective.
A proposal at this week’s World Health Assembly to negotiate a binding convention on research and development for neglected diseases - those predominantly afflicting poor populations - ran into resistance from developed countries which hold the view that another approach might be possible. But an agreement was reached on a way forward for the expert report that recommended the binding convention.
The first global target on noncommunicable diseases has been gavelled through a World Health Assembly meeting. Member states have decided on a voluntary global target in reducing overall mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease.
The latest available documents of the closed-door meeting addressing recommendations on ways to finance neglected diseases largely afflicting developing countries show progress heading into this afternoon's session. They reflect efforts to agree on how to take the process forward, including agreement reached last night on putting the issue to regional groups later this year.
On the last day of the weeklong meeting of the WIPO committee on the law of patents, discussions are ongoing to find consensus on the future work of the committee. The week has been a theatre of strong stances dividing developed and developing countries on areas such as patents on health, patent flexibilities and the quality of patents.