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EU High Court Upholds Private Copy Levies On First Sale Of Blank Media

Setting general private copying levies on the first sale of blank media such as CDs and DVDs does not necessarily breach EU law, Europe's highest court said on 11 July. The law does not allow the levy to be collected where the intended use of the recording media clearly isn't for making private copies. But it doesn't bar a general levy system that includes the option of reimbursement where the intended use is not private copying, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said.

Panel Discusses Role Of ECOSOC In The UN’s Post-2015 Goals

The contribution the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) can make to the formation of a post-2015 UN development agenda was at the centre of a thematic debate in Geneva last week. The agenda, to be developed by the General Assembly, is expected to include issues such as innovation, public health and the transfer of technology.

Special Feature: A Look At Product Development Partnerships And Innovation For Neglected Diseases

An analysis of available information indicates that research-oriented product development partnerships (PDPs) are seen as providing a better approach to neglected diseases than most other public-private partnerships. Yet, in spite of many positive results, PDPs still have a limited impact in developing countries.

Special Report: European Dialogue On Internet Governance: Regulating Cyberspace After Prism?

Lisbon, Portugal - The surveillance affair around the US Prism programme left its mark on the 2013 European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) in Lisbon last week. Legal experts at the sixth edition of the European version of the Internet Governance Forum pondered possible legal reactions, companies revealed as targets or (unwilling) partners of the programme tried to limit the damage, while Swedish ambassador Olaf Ehrenkrona admitted that state surveillance programs need to be reconsidered given the ease of mass surveillance in the era of a public internet space.

UNICEF Supply Annual Report Highlights Medical Products Access, Innovation

In its recently released Supply Annual Report for 2012, the United Nations agency UNICEF assessed its programme work in developing and strengthening supply chains, in hopes of achieving equitable access to life-saving supplies for children and women. The report found that UNICEF procured supplies and services valued at $2.468 billion, with India being the largest supplier country to UNICEF in 2012.

G8 Hails Trade Deals, Nods To WTO, Issues Declaration On Open Data

In their traditional communiqué, Group of Eight countries at their annual summit welcomed ongoing efforts to negotiate bilateral and multilateral trade deals which they say will allow them to overcome economic uncertainties and shoulder the responsibility to support prosperity worldwide.

US Supreme Court Rules On Pharma Payments To Delay Generic Drugs On Market

The United States Supreme Court in a five to three decision today found that settlement agreements by branded pharmaceutical companies involving payments to generic companies to delay their cheaper drugs' entry into the market may not be immune from antitrust scrutiny but are not "presumptively" unlawful. The case was sent back to lower court.

US Supreme Court Restricts Gene Patents … A Little

Last Thursday, the United States Supreme Court overturned more than 30 years of precedents and ruled that isolated genes cannot be patented. They are products of nature and thus not patent-eligible subject matter, the court unanimously held in Assoc. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. This ruling puts the US at odds with most other nations, which allow genes to be patented. But because other major nations grant narrower gene patents, the net effect of Myriad will be to shift the US position on gene patents closer to that of other nations.