Original news and analysis on international IP policy
On the occasion of the 132nd session of the World Health Organization Executive Board last week, delegations welcomed the efforts made by the international community to eradicate poliomyelitis (polio), but saw room for improvement. As a way forward, they looked to the key role played by WHO partners.
An essential relationship exists among the conservation, development and use of genetic resources, sustainable agriculture and food security. There is an equally essential relationship between the conservation, development and use of genetic resources and small scale-farmers. The strength and effectiveness of any treaty addressing IP and genetic resources depends on the meaningful participation of small-scale farmers, and those that can represent them, as in the treaty deliberations continuing next week at WIPO, write Susan Bragdon and Lynn Finnegan.
Prof. Ryan Abbott analyzes the key components of the WHO proposal for a Global R&D Treaty and their potential impact on public health. The article proposes strategies to convert parties currently opposing the treaty, and argues that a stratified limited market-exclusivity regime has the capacity for a meaningful impact.
Any employee who has been through a company reform knows that it can be an anxious and stressful period. The experience is no different for the 194 members of the World Health Organization representing their respective countries and the public health interests of their constituents. As the WHO Executive Board digs deep into the fundamental principles of organisational change, preserving the holy member-driven nature of the global public health authority has emerged as the most pressing priority.
US internet giant Google has released a report showing a steady climb in government surveillance online, which a tech industry group called "disturbing". The report, which covered from July through December of last year, includes more details than in the past, but does not include content takedowns, which now will be the subject of an upcoming separate report.
Manila, Philippines – The Philippine Supreme Court has begun to hear and weigh the arguments on the constitutionality of a controversial law listing punishable activities on the internet. Its implementation was suspended last year amid mounting criticism that, among other things, the law curtails freedom of speech and harks the country back to the almost a decade of repressive martial rule in the 1970s.
India has started the New Year on a volatile note. With general elections looming in 2014, there is turbulence and not just in the political world. In India’s pharmaceutical industry, there is sparring over the prickly issue of ‘compulsory licenses’, a mechanism by which a government allows a domestic company to manufacture and sell a generic version of a patented drug without the consent of the patent-holder, who receives compensation.
The United States Federal Trade Commission, which keeps an eye out for anticompetitive behaviour, has issued a study finding that in 2012, a record number of deals were struck between brand-name and generic drug companies to keep the lower-priced generics off the market. Such deals, which arise from patent disputes, cost American consumers billions of dollars annually while piling on the federal deficit, it said.
The United States Senate Judiciary Committee in 2013 will address topical issues of gun violence and immigration, but will also take up issues of citizens' civil liberties in light of ever-increasing security measures, and a push for government transparency, freedom of the press, digital rights, access to books for the visually impaired, and incentives for innovation.
The World Health Organization reports that unprecedented progress has been made in addressing 17 parasitic diseases affecting the world’s poorest populations. The public health authority attributes the gains, in large part, to the contributions of global partners, including drug contributions made by research-based pharmaceutical giants.
The Corporate Europe Observatory and the European Commission presented their arguments in a case over access to documents about the EU-India free trade agreement before the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg last Friday.
What will 2013 bring for international intellectual property and innovation policy?
In the coming Intellectual Property Watch series for subscribers, our expert writers take a look at the top global policy issues and events in copyright, public health, legal battles, food security/biotech/biodiversity, trade, development, internet governance and more.