Category Development

WIPO Assembly Extends Talks On Traditional Knowledge, Design; Sets Policy For New Offices

Near dawn today, World Intellectual Property Organization members agreed to continue working in committee toward an international agreement or agreements on the protection of traditional knowledge, genetic resources and folklore, rescuing the committee for another two years. Members also agreed to hold a final treaty negotiation on a design law treaty in early 2017, but left differences on inclusion of disclosure of origin to later.

Health Groups Urge EU Commission To Safeguard Access To Medicines In Developing Countries

Health Action International (HAI) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF – Doctors without Borders) today issued a joint report on European Union commitments to safeguard access to medicines. Their report [pdf] comes in the context of the revision of the European Union’s trade and investment policy, released today.

Racing Against Time To Close On Difficult Issues At WIPO General Assembly

With hours to go before the end of the annual World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly, delegates are trying to find last resort solutions on a range of remaining issues. Keeping WIPO members busy are: the adoption of the budget and a new plan for financing the Lisbon appellations of origin treaty, fate of the WIPO committee on genetic resources and traditional knowledge, the work of the copyright committee, and whether to mandate the final negotiation of an industrial design treaty.

WIPO African Ministerial Should Embrace A Pro-Competitive And Pro-Development IP Vision

By Ahmed Abdel-Latif , Dick Kawooya, Chidi Oguamanam Note: this article first appeared as: WIPO African ministerial should embrace a pro-competitive and pro-development IP vision, 4 October 2015, BRIDGES AFRICA An African ministerial meeting, organised by the World Intellectual Property…

A New Model For IP: Interview With Ecuador IP Office Director Hernán Núñez Rocha

Ecuador is preparing a new intellectual property policy that aims to better suit the country's strategic development. On the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly, Hernán Núñez Rocha, head of the Ecuadorian IP office sat with Intellectual Property Watch to talk about the country's work on the IP policy and its use of IP as a tool for local development. He also explained Ecuador's position on the WIPO committee on traditional knowledge.

WTO TRIPS Council To Decide On LDC Pharma Extension, Non-Violation Complaints

The intellectual property committee of the World Trade Organization is meeting this week with a full agenda. The highlight of the agenda is the extension of a waiver allowing least developed countries to choose not to enforce intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products. Also high on the agenda is a decision on whether to extend a moratorium banning IP from complaints not linked to any breached WTO agreement, and the annual review of special compulsory licence for exporting pharmaceutical products.

WTO Paper Could Spark New Ideas On TRIPS Special Compulsory Licence For Medicines Export

A carefully agreed 2003 waiver from international intellectual property trade rules to allow export of medicines made under compulsory licence to benefit needy countries has been quietly implemented by a large number of World Trade Organization members, according to a new analytical paper from the WTO. The analysis explores the limited use of the waiver to date and how the situation has changed since then, providing grist for a potential fresh look at the provision at this week’s annual WTO review of IP and public health.

WIPO Explains Its Role In Sustainable Development Goals And The UN

The World Intellectual Property Organization is a United Nations agency based in Geneva. At the time of the recent activity at UN headquarters in New York over the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, Minelik Alemu Getahun, WIPO Assistant Director General, took time to explain in a written Q&A what WIPO's involvement is in the SDGs and IP agency's evolving relationship with the UN.

International Red Cross ‘Makeathon’ To Help Persons With Disabilities In Rural Areas

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will launch in November the Enable Makeathon, a programme aimed at developing affordable solutions for persons with disabilities in rural areas.

“No Human Right To Patent Protection,” Says UN Rapporteur On Cultural Rights

In a new report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights examines the implications of patent policy for the right to science and culture. She gives a number of recommendations calling for countries to refrain from granting stringent patent protection, and respect their human right obligations.