Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Intellectual Property Organization this week may have witnessed the beginnings of a resumption of high-level negotiations on an international treaty on the protection of audiovisual performances.
Senior officials from well over 100 nations at a five-day United Nations conference on Thursday issued a succinct declaration committing them to establish a global framework on the delivery of products and services related to climate change. But earlier negotiating versions of the declaration from the week obtained by Intellectual Property Watch show substantive disagreement and the removal of pages of draft text.
The Obama administration on Thursday announced several key changes related to intellectual property rights and trade.
Undeterred by two previous decisions by Indian authorities holding that under Indian Patent Law, its leukaemia drug - Gleevec is not patentable, Novartis now wants to take the fight to the Indian Supreme Court. Meanwhile, also this week, sources say Indian authorities rejected applications for patents on two HIV/AIDS drugs, opening the way for cheaper generic versions to be developed and marketed.
Scientists and bureaucrats meeting this week on climate change and weather data are struggling to move global discussion past general declarations of recognition and commitment to address environmental change. One bump under the rug at the United Nations conference is rights over environmental technologies, and a new UN report released Tuesday calls for investment and a focus on flexibilities in and possible changes to intellectual property rights rules to help developing countries access information and technologies.
With 15 scheduled negotiating days left before a meeting in Copenhagen meant to set the global sustainability agenda for the next several years, the head of the United Nations agency tasked with coordinating the global effort to fight climate change has issued an urgent call for more speed toward convergence on all parts of the upcoming climate change agreement, especially on IP-related text - lest the entire thing fall through.
Authorities in the European Union and the United States have recently taken a tougher stance against reverse payments - patent settlements whereby, according to many competition experts, dominant drug companies buy off potential rivals.
Indian generics manufacturer Cipla can get marketing approval for its generic cancer treatment Soranib, the Delhi High Court ruled Tuesday, and the Indian drug regulatory authority does not have to check its patent status first. The court this week rejected a complaint by drug multinational Bayer against the Union of India, the Drug Controller General of India and generic drug producer Cipla.
Bayer sought a court order requiring DCGI to consider the patent status of kidney cancer drug, sorafenib tosylate (sold under the brand name Nexavar), before granting marketing approval for a generic version of the drug.
At issue was whether it is legitimate to link a potential violation of IP rights to processes regulating a drug’s entry onto the market that are generally based on drug quality, efficacy and safety.
The influential United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) ended its 2009 substantive session on 31 July, after a month-long coordinating body meeting in Geneva which yielded resolutions on several topics such as public health, science and technology, human rights, environment and sustainable development issues.
With governments looking to close the long-stalled Doha Round of trade liberalisation talks in 2010, what will happen to remaining disagreements on intellectual property issues is still unclear. But proponents of amending the World Trade Organization intellectual property agreement reasserted the need to have them addressed.
A Northern California academic and a top national fundraiser for President Obama may be the next US ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, according to sources. Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, wife of eBay CEO and President John Donahoe, holds a law degree, two master’s degrees and a PhD in a variety of subjects, and is rumoured to be the nominee for the post empty since January.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) this week is concluding a month-long coordinating body meeting in Geneva by adopting resolutions on a range of public policy issues such as internet connectivity, science and technology, and HIV/AIDS.