Draft Review Finds No WHO Malfeasance On Pandemics
The draft report of the committee reviewing the World Health Organization's actions in response to the 2009 spread of H1N1, or swine flu, has been issued. Looks like the WHO may be cleared.
Intellectual Property Watch
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International Seed Treaty Hears Concerns Of Corporate Concentration, DNA Patenting
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is holding the fourth regular session of its Governing Body this week in Bali, Indonesia.
IP Enforcement Permeates ICANN, US Internet Policy
The push for ever more far-reaching intellectual property enforcement in the domain name system was heavily criticised at a conference of the Non-Commercial Users' Constituency (NCUC) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Friday. The NCUC conference on "Internet Governance and the Global Public Interest" took place one day before the first constituency meetings of the 40th ICANN meeting in San Francisco (13-18 March).
EU Takes Actions On Patent Law; ACTA May See Legal Fight
In a flurry of patent-related developments in Europe this week, plans for a single European patent moved a step closer, efforts to create a European-wide patent court faltered, the United Kingdom sought guidance in a case with implications for medicinal research, and the EU high court may be asked to review the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
Caribbean IP: Establishing An Arbitral Tribunal For The Region
The use of arbitration across the Caribbean has been largely within the context of trade union disputes and is still something of a novelty in resolving commercial and private disputes in the region, Abiola Inniss writes.
World Blind Union Won’t Be Sidetracked In Quest For Treaty On Reading Access
In a significant development for ongoing copyright negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Blind Union has distanced itself from initiatives it sees as distractions from a primary goal at the international level: To get agreement on a treaty promoting better access to reading material for visually impaired readers.
Vaccines Alliance Gets New CEO
A key Geneva-based public-private initiative to increase global vaccination has named a new CEO.
Medicines Patent Pool Aims To Increase Access To HIV Drugs In Developing Countries
The newly created Medicines Patent Pool promises to increase access to HIV/AIDS medications in developing markets. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the pool operates a scheme in which pharmaceutical patent holders voluntarily licence their drugs to generic manufacturers who then produce more affordable versions for patients in poorer countries
Media Piracy In Emerging Economies Report Stirs Debate
A large (440-page) new report on media piracy in emerging economies is stirring significant debate in internet copyright and open access circles, as it purports to turn rights owner assertions and the basis for developed country IP policy on their heads.
Commerce Secretary Locke Nominated US Ambassador To China
US President Obama today nominated current US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be ambassador to China. US intellectual property rights holders see it as a positive contribution to what they see as a fight against massive piracy and counterfeiting from China.
UN Rapporteur On Food Offers Long-Term Answer To Food Crisis: Agroecology
The annual report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, to the sixteenth session of the UN Human Rights Council yesterday is unequivocal. There must be a global agricultural shift toward more productive, environmentally friendly, sustainable modes of production, using natural resources to remediate world hunger, away from industrialised agriculture. In short, the world needs a shift to agroecology.
Free Press Changes Leaders
Free Press, a US non-profit working to reform media, announced that its president is stepping down after almost a decade, to be replaced by the current managing director in mid-April.