Original news and analysis on international IP policy
LAUSANNE - Community-driven innovation and technologies could be a solution for developing essential technologies to achieve sustainable development, according to a range of expert panels at a recent event. And in some cases, they already are.
The Geneva-based Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) announced yesterday that the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) became its seventy-second member.
LYON, France - At the Biovision life science forum looking into translating innovation into health-related solutions last week, a panel of speakers shared their experience about the global access to vaccines. Although vaccination coverage is on the rise and intellectual property has not been a major concern in the past decade for vaccines, patents may well become a barrier in the future, panellists said.
LAUSANNE - Energy installation projects in developing countries are often not sustainable, and can lead to breakdown of technologies reliant on energy supply such as medical devices, said speakers at a conference on technologies for development last week. A sustainable model, productive use of energy and receiver participation and training are essential to ensure continued operation of energy supply infrastructure, they said.
The World Trade Organization intellectual property committee will meet next week with some new issues on the agenda. Ecuador has requested the continuance of a discussion on the transfer of green technologies, and Taiwan and the United States have proposed an agenda item on innovation incubators.
World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan opened the annual World Health Assembly today with strong calls to address a wide range of top health concerns across the world. This included a call for the global health community to work to assert the primacy of health concerns over economic interests.
A working group established by the international seed treaty of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) this week is examining ways to raise its income level, in particular innovative approaches to attract more industry participation.
The Geneva IP delegates list is updated! As a special feature for our subscribers, Intellectual Property Watch has assembled a new list of many of the leading government delegates working on intellectual property issues in Geneva.
The European Union Council of Ministers on 14 April adopted a decision approving the ratification of a protocol meant to facilitate access to genetic resources and to provide the fair sharing of commercial benefits with provider countries. The target date for ratification is July 2014, according to the EU.
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), an enigma organisation to some, has published a list of answers to frequently asked questions on its website.