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WIPO Development And IP Committee This Week: Agenda Includes Flexibilities, Tech Transfer, SDGs, Studies

Following a session in May hailed as the most positive in years, the World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property reconvenes this week. Among items to be discussed are a revised proposal by the African Group to convene a biennial international conference on IP and development, how to deal with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and recommendations of an independent review of the implementation of the 2007 WIPO Development Agenda Recommendations.

‘The WHO Does Not Have A Board’: New WHO Director Pushes To Make Agency More Efficient

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Tedros) admonished member states at the close of this week’s special session of the WHO Executive Board charged with examining the agency’s draft work programme for 2019-2023. A trust deficit among member states leads to the multiplication of national statements, impeding efficiency, he said. Meanwhile, a number of countries called for affordable and accessible medicines, and help to manufacture generic medicines locally, while the United States pushed the role of the private sector.

Breeders Group CIOPORA Calls For New Plant Varieties To Be Patentable

A new “position paper” by a plant breeders industry group revives the argument that plant-related inventions should be patentable. New plant breeding techniques modifying the plant genome are not essentially biological processes, thus should be patentable, the paper says. The group also calls for a worldwide harmonised research exemption on plant variety rights and patents for the purpose of improving the invention.

WTO Dispute Panel Set For Qatar IP Case; Appellate Body Appointments Still Stuck

A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel today was established on request of Qatar, which is challenging measures by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) taken in the name of anti-terrorism but which Qatar says unfairly violate its intellectual property rights and other WTO rules. Separately, also at today's WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting, members continued to be at odds over a closely watched disagreement on appointing new Appellate Body members.

WHO Members Delve Into Draft 5-Year Work Programme, Question Finance, Focus

World Health Organization member states’ first reactions to the secretariat-proposed draft work programme for the next five years were mixed this morning. Although many praised the effort and the vision of the programme of work, in particular its alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a number of countries found the programme ambitious without the needed financial backing, and sometimes straying from the core function of the organisation.

Get Prepared For A Passel Of EU Legislation On Copyright And Related Rights

This week several committees in the European Parliament voted on a pile of copyright-related dossiers, and in some instances the steps taken were really small. But the issues include controversial aspects in the legislative drafts on copyright review, broadcasting content and digital content, such as an obligation for providers to monitor third party content, intermediary liability and website blocking.

Artist Resale Right Does Not Seem To Affect Art Market, Economic Study At WIPO Says

A few days after a Leonardo da Vinci painting shattered the record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at Christie’s auction house in New York, the question of resale right for visual artists was discussed at the World Intellectual Property Organization. According to researchers, the establishment of a resale right in a particular country, which benefits the artist when her work is resold at a much higher value, is likely to have no negative effects on the country’s art market. The United States and China, the two largest global art markets, have not implemented the resale right yet.

WIPO Committee Debates Future Of Copyright Exceptions, Will Keep Working On Broadcasting Text

The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee last week sent back to the drawing board draft action plans provided by the secretariat on exceptions and limitations to copyright for specific actors such as educational institutions and libraries. Meanwhile, discussions on the rights of broadcasting organisations against signal theft and piracy are expected to give way to a new text on specific topics, to be produced by the end of the month, while topics such as the resale right did not make it to standing agenda items but remain on list of items to be discussed in the spring.

Rise Of Global Value Chains Propels Intangible Capital Revenues, WIPO Report Says

A World Intellectual Property Organization report released today shows the growing global importance of intangible capital and its share in the value of end products. The report does not however provide a geographical repartition of this value, nor who actually owns the returns on intangible capital. Three case studies shed light on different production areas: coffee, smart phones, and solar panels.

US Congress Members Signal Move To Block Allergan Patent Deal With Tribe

Members of a US congressional subcommittee on intellectual property held a hearing last week that appeared aimed at finding ways to stop companies from “renting” the sovereignty of Native American tribes in order to avoid a process that can lead to the invalidation of patents. Elected officials called a deal between Allergan pharmaceutical company and a northeastern tribe a “sham” and a “mockery”, and signalled the start of the legislative procedure to prevent such deals.