Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization are quietly but heatedly discussing how to address an external review of WIPO technical assistance in the lead-up to the next Committee on Development and IP (CDIP) meeting, according to sources. And some are watchful that there not be an effort to bury the substantive and at-times critical review, even as WIPO has issued a lengthy response to it.
Using on-the-ground research in Africa and the Netherlands, the authors of a recent book looked at the impact of intellectual property on agriculture and health in developing countries. The study made some surprise findings in relation to IP and development, such as IP-related obstacles to knowledge and technology transfer.
The head of the West Africa region for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is the next in the line of departures under the organisation’s reforms. On the way out, he sent around a passionate farewell email calling for a dedication to values, and offering a small window on the wrenching transition taking place inside the international organisation.
If you cannot beat them, join them. For that reason this Chair of IP has decided to announce a NEW sui generis Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill in the hope that something may yet be done to save us all.
South-east Asia's economic juggernaut Singapore will hold a public consultation on a proposal to liberalise its patent law in a bid to cement its position as the intellectual property (IP) hub in the region.
The Free University of Brussels has set out to map predominant normative and causal beliefs regarding IP laws and policies. To give your input and participate in the survey, click on www.surveymonkey.com/s/IP_Community.
The World Intellectual Property Organization has waded into the global debates over access to safe drinking water, with an upcoming workshop on patents and water purification technologies.
The World Health Organization is under siege by private sector forces using their financial leverage to gain undue influence in the financially beleaguered United Nations agency, a developing country-oriented group has said.
In a move welcomed by many in the international community, India has granted an application, its first, from a homegrown generic drug maker to manufacture and sell a patented cancer drug under a compulsory licence.
A collegium of scientists, philosophers and former heads of state launched an appeal yesterday in Geneva for world governance they called "Global Solidarity, Global Responsibility."
There will be more than 50 important meetings talking internet in 2012, and activists and government alike have started calling for streamlining or better cooperation and focus. Yet what might make 2012 a very notable year with regard to the politics of the net is not these meetings, but the rising storms blowing over the net regarding day to day internet politics. The preliminary stop of the un-beloved SOPA/PIPA legislation in the United States and the unexpected hesitation of Europe to sign the controversial ACTA agreement gave a first taste of a hot year in internet governance.
While action on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is occurring at the European Parliament in Brussels – including a new letter from Members of Parliament and 2.5 million petitioners in opposition - ACTA also was the subject of discussion at the World Trade Organization this week.