Category Health & IP

African Civil Society Outcry Over ARIPO’s Closed Decision-Making On Health And IP

As the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Administrative Council meets this week, more than 60 civil society groups are calling for greater inclusion and more transparency on access to medicines and diagnostics. Signatories are asking for a review of the Harare Protocol on patents and industrial designs, and raised concern about over-reliance on advice of the United Nations intellectual property agency for decisions affecting broader public health in the region.

Convention On Biological Diversity Biennial Meeting Looks At How New Technologies Will Affect Its Objectives

Member countries of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity are meeting in Egypt for its biennial conference of the parties, and the conference of the parties of its protocol on access and benefit sharing, until the end of November. New technologies are high on the agenda of the meeting, such as synthetic biology and genetic sequence information of genetic resources, and how they will impact the convention's objectives. Delegates are also expected to discuss a potential global multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism, and criteria for international specialised instruments of access and benefit-sharing which could substitute the protocol's obligations in certain cases.

A Look At The Proposed EU IP Exception To Promote Generic, Biosimilar Industry Competitiveness

The European Commission has proposed an exception to the extended period of patent protection that the European Union provides to original drug manufacturers for certain products, in order to boost the competitiveness of EU generic and biosimilar industries in global markets. The exception will allow EU generic and biosimilar companies to manufacture protected drugs for export during this patent extension period. Stakeholders are so far unhappy with the exception. Meanwhile, studies analyse its potential economic impacts and legal implications, and the Commission remains confident that safeguards it is putting in place will keep the lower-priced medicines from making their way back into the EU.

Global Biotech Industry Revisits Geneva, Seeks To Build Relationships To Help Shape Policies

A global association representing biotechnology industries last week made a second annual visit to Geneva's institutions to raise awareness of how the industry works, its needs, and how the association could participate better in policymaking. Dismissing fears of industry unduly influencing public policies, two representatives of the association sat down with Intellectual Property Watch's Catherine Saez to explain the importance of biotechnology in solving the problems of the world, and the need to raise awareness of the perspective of the biotechnology sector.

WTO TRIPS Council Debates Competition Law, Plain Packaging’s Spread To Other Products

The World Trade Organization intellectual property committee met last week with lively discussions on the benefit of IP rights protection for new businesses, and on the role of competition law to prevent abuses of those rights and in particular ensure greater access to medicines. Also, considering the recent WTO Dispute Settlement Body ruling on the tobacco plain packaging, some countries warned against this decision becoming a precedent and spreading to other goods, and undermining trademark protection.

WTO TRIPS Council Agenda: IP Key For New Businesses, Competition Law To Counter Abuses

World Trade Organization intellectual property committee members gather this week for their annual autumn session. On the agenda are now-usual topics looking at intellectual property from two perspectives: IP as an indispensable tool for innovation in particular in the new economy, and IP as a potential threat to access if misused. In addition, India has put forward further questions on goods in transit to the European Union in its directive on custom enforcement of IP rights.

Lurking In USMCA – IP Provisions With An International Agenda

Donald Trump is no fan of international norms or rules. He’s made this clear on numerous occasions, including during his two speeches at the United Nations. It is surprising, therefore, that one of the few international deals he has made as president – the recently announced treaty replacing NAFTA – contains IP provisions whose main purposes seem to be extending US rules overseas and establishing IP norms for future international agreements.

New Report: Mitigating Patent Linkage To Promote Medicines Access In LMICs

A new report reviews how patent linkage mechanisms have been implemented in South Korea, Australia, Canada, and the United States, and identifies precedents for how low and middle-income countries (LMICs) can retain and exploit “constructive ambiguities” in trade treaty text to mitigate the impacts of patent linkage mechanisms and promote the timely availability of generic medicines.

US Releases New Medicare Drug Plan To “Pay The Prices Other Countries Pay”

The United States Department of Health and Human Services has released a new plan intended to reduce drug prices for some patients on Medicare, based on an international pricing index model. In his announcement of the plan, President Trump said the US would save money “for our seniors by paying the prices other countries pay. Nothing special, just the prices that other countries pay.”

Investing In New Antibiotic Research: Difficult Equation Discussed At World Investment Forum

The diminishing arsenal of efficient antibiotics to fight bacteria is a threat denounced by many, but investment in research and development of new antibiotics is seen as lagging. As the danger of getting back to a pre-antibiotic age is increasing, alternative ways of financing new antibiotics are being discussed. At the World Investment Forum this week, a panel looked into innovative means of investment, and ways to attract private investors to this field.