Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Representatives of the World Health Organization and the European pharmaceutical industry today answered questions from the Council of Europe and the press on whether they had mishandled an outbreak of influenza this summer.
The World Health Organization today defended its declaration of a global influenza pandemic, and saying any allegations that it is fake are “wrong and irresponsible.” The statement comes as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) prepares for a public hearing tomorrow morning in Strasbourg to examine the allegations, involving representatives of the WHO and European vaccine manufacturers will be in attendance, as will independent medical experts.
The United States is working to become a master at empowering its residents and others through networked technology while it navigates the murky areas of international policy and law.
A new intergovernmental negotiation, facilitated by the World Health Organization director general, will address an agreement for sharing virus-related materials and benefits and managing associated intellectual property rights in the WHO strategy for responding to pandemic influenza outbreaks.
The cultures of indigenous peoples have frequently been ignored when global standards on intellectual property were being set, a new United Nations report has stated.
Plus de 95 pour cent des œuvres publiées ne sont pas adaptées aux personnes déficientes visuelles, ont indiqué leurs représentants la semaine dernière, à l’Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OMPI). Ils soutiennent qu’un accord prévoyant des exceptions au droit d’auteur pourrait remédier à cette pénurie de livres, en levant les restrictions portées par le droit d’auteur à la traduction d’œuvres protégées dans des formats adaptés, et en partageant ces traductions au-delà des frontières nationales.
Over ninety-five percent of printed works are in formats inaccessible to people with visual impairments, representatives of the visually impaired said last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization. An agreement to allow exceptions in copyright law, they argued, could address this "book famine" by removing copyright restrictions on translation of works into accessible formats and on sharing of these translations across national boundaries.
COPENHAGEN - Despite last-minute pep talk by US President Barack Obama, it proved extremely difficult to secure an international climate deal at the high-level meeting in Copenhagen on 18 December. Intellectual property issues were again discussed in a smaller group during one of the last days, but are not mentioned in the final text, which is entitled the “Copenhagen Accord.”
This week's consideration of an implementation plan for a medicines patent pool by the board of oversight body UNITAID stirred a stream of stakeholder letters from around the world.
After an auspicious beginning on substantive issues, the World Intellectual Property Organization traditional knowledge committee stalled on matters of procedure at the end of its meeting last week. With no mandate, a committee working group will not meet in early 2010 as planned, and the full committee will move meet again sooner than scheduled to try to agree on process.