Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A World Intellectual Property Organization report released today shows the growing global importance of intangible capital and its share in the value of end products. The report does not however provide a geographical repartition of this value, nor who actually owns the returns on intangible capital. Three case studies shed light on different production areas: coffee, smart phones, and solar panels.
A case at the High Court in India set for 15 December could decide whether a patent on some of the most important drugs to fight hepatitis C should be removed. It is one of many attempts to challenge patents on hepatitis C drugs in various countries around the world and serves as an opportunity to learn more about the group leading the legal case.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today issued changes to some patent fees, including increases in certain areas, including the cost of using the inter partes review process. Following feedback from users, the office went with some proposed increases, while keeping others at existing levels despite proposals to increase them, it said.
A weeklong event next week has been co-organised and sponsored by a number of Geneva actors, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and the University of Geneva, as well as lesser known groups and projects, to celebrate the international week of entrepreneurship.
Hidden amongst the thousands of Facebook pages given over to holiday snaps and gossip are groups of patients who have hepatitis C, a disease that affects more than 70 million worldwide and kills around 400,000 people a year. But importantly, these groups of patients from Russia to Australia have got together to help each other import a relatively new class of drug that is able to cure most of the patients who take it.
The new leadership of the World Health Organization today issued its draft new programme of work for the next five years. The programme depicts new orientations for the global health actor, starting with the alignment of the programme with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage. The organisation also commits to help establish policies promoting access to health products, including generic medicines, innovation, and fair pricing. The WHO is set to help address innovation barriers, and to step up its global leadership, but asks that its members actually fully finance the budget that they approve.
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises represent the bulk of the global economic fabric, but they face many impediments to joining the global marketplace. An informal group of countries is bringing the conversation into the World Trade Organization, to see how it can help small companies integrate international trade. They submitted a draft decision for the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference in December. A workshop this week looked at challenges and possible remedies at the national and international level.
Electronic commerce is flourishing, but countries are not benefitting equally from this windfall. An event held this week at the World Trade Organization looked at the role of the WTO in the establishment of global rules for e-commerce, while WTO member states themselves disagree on the urgency to establish a new work programme, just weeks before the next WTO ministerial.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) announced today that it has secured deals for two key generic hepatitis C medicines, dropping prices dramatically.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) this month gathered a wide range of key stakeholders to have a frank discussion about how to solve rising global resistance to existing antibiotics. While not a negotiation, stakeholders in the expert group opened up and shared perspectives, leading to some informal conclusions. Among them: more public and private investment, and a shift in the R&D system to new-style incentives, are needed.
Your brand is everything in the global marketplace. It is no exaggeration to say that a business now lives and dies by both its offline, online and social reputation. Because of this, searching a trademark is more vital than ever before. It is important for trademark professionals to work faster and more effectively in searching, clearing and registering strong marks to ensure clients have a competitive advantage. To do so requires the merging of the old and new: the specific knowledge that only highly experienced trademark experts can provide, with the advantages of the latest wave of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, writes Ronda Majure.
After the new head of the World Health Organization provided his vision for his tenure of the global health institution this summer, the organisation is working on its next programme of work for the period 2019-2023. A preliminary concept note has been issued for public consideration. The note lays out priorities and new orientations and describes a financially sober, more efficient organisation, focused on measurable impact, set on aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and affirming its role as a multi-stakeholder platform of global governance on health, but stays clear of controversial issues, such as the affordability of medicines.