Category Development

Information, Access, And Development: Setting A Course For The Sustainable Development Goals

Gerald Leitner writes: Information is the raw material for decision-making. When individuals and groups make the right choices, based on good information, their chances of taking a full role in economic, social, cultural and civic life improve. They can better create and innovate, participate in politics, find and do their jobs well, and live healthily.

Informed citizens and communities are also essential to the UN’s 2030 Agenda. We cannot have sustainable development when individuals are not able to deal with new choices and challenges autonomously, drawing on access to information. And we cannot have inclusive development, with no-one left behind, unless this access is real and meaningful for everyone.

Libraries have long sought to do this, making sure that the world’s heritage is preserved and made accessible, allowing the sharing of knowledge between institutions and across borders, and giving children, families, students and others the chance to enjoy works which they could never afford to pay for individually.

The Case For Nations To Act On Medicines Access

NEW YORK -- A range of speakers, including top health officials from both a developed and developing country, last week laid out the case for why the world’s leaders must now launch a shift in the way medicines all populations need are developed and priced. The need for global collaboration is clear, speakers said, but who will lead?

WHO Prequalifies First Generic Hepatitis C Drug And First HIV Self-Test

In the days before this month's AIDS conference being held in Paris, the World Health Organization has announced the prequalification of the first generic version of sofosbuvir, a "critical" medicine for treating hepatitis C. Treatment for hepatitis C under patent has been notoriously priced at extreme high levels, putting it out of reach of patients in economies of all sizes.

WIPO’s Gurry: Artificial Intelligence, Gene Editing Latest ‘Winners’ In Innovation

The main winners of innovation are technologies that enable market application, with gene editing and artificial intelligence as two examples, Francis Gurry, director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, told a panel discussion last week. Thomas Cueni, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), said at the same event that everybody benefits from innovation.

WIPO Budget First Reading: SDGs, External Offices, Possible Treaty Negotiation

The World Intellectual Property Organization members this week have discussed the first draft of the budget of the organisation for the biennium 2018/2019. Questions have been asked about how WIPO is contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, how much WIPO committees and external offices will cost, and how WIPO can help developing countries increase their IP development.

G20: 19 Against 1 On Climate Change; Affordable Antimicrobials, Vaccines Planned

The G20 governments against some odds passed a joint communique today, but had to accept differences on climate and in one point also on free trade. The US delegation remained firm in their decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and continue to support conventional energy resources, instead of renewable ones. German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her press conference explained that there was a clear division in the climate chapter of the G20 2017 Declaration.

WIPO Patent Law Committee Agrees On Future Work: Exceptions, Quality, Health, Confidentiality, Tech Transfer

General satisfaction was expressed today at the World Intellectual Property Organization as members of the patent law committee agreed on a future work programme. That is an exercise that they could not complete in December 2016. Included in the work programme is a half-day information exchange on cooperation between patent offices on search and examination, a half-day information exchange on publicly accessible databases on medicines and patent information, and a reference document on exceptions and limitations to patent rights.

EU Parliament Adopts Marrakesh Treaty; Blind Union Prepared To Fight Publisher ‘Compensation’

The European Parliament today with over 600 votes adopted the legal instruments to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty on access to reading material for the visually impaired. The treaty, adopted by the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2013 and effective since last year, has been subject of controversies due to lobbying from publishers in the European Union, members of Parliament said today in Strasbourg before the vote. EU member states after today’s vote have one year to implement.