Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The second edition of the Consumers International IP Watchlist has been published, with the conclusion that consumers are bearing collateral damage to the enforcement push by entertainment and media lobby groups encouraging stringent national legislations. Copyright laws and enforcement are changing, but mostly for the benefit of right holders, said the advocate group which encourages copyright exceptions.
Este mes, el Ecuador concedió su primera licencia obligatoria para un producto farmacéutico patentado, desde que el año pasado declarara que utilizaría normas internacionales que permiten tal concesión.
Esta acción ya le ha aportado al país ahorros sustanciales debido a la nueva competencia, según la oficina de propiedad intelectual ecuatoriana. Otros países latinoamericanos podrían verse atraídos por las perspectivas de precios de medicamentos más bajos, según dejaron trascender algunos defensores. El titular de los derechos se manifestó decepcionado por la decisión.
While the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is getting a lot of attention with its draft consolidated version just published, there is another convention dealing with one major aspect it was always said ACTA would tackle. The Medicrime Convention of the Council of Europe sets the first international standard for criminalising the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeited medicine risking public health. And Medicrime will overtake ACTA, as the draft convention text is ready to be signed by the Committee of Ministers in May and be opened for signature in November.
PARIS- The cosmetics industry is about beauty, but it is also increasingly about biodiversity as consumers show a growing awareness of environmental issues and the loss of biodiversity. As a wishful wink to the 10th meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya in October 2010, the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) held a conference at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris on 15 April.
Biotechnology, international trade, and pandemic influenza were among the topics discussed at the outset of this year’s Geneva Health Forum.
A new accord designed to bolster political and economic ties between the European Union and Central America could result in greater seizures of medicines whenever pharmaceutical companies allege that their patents have been infringed, public health advocates have warned.
世界卫生组织就处理假冒伪劣（conterfeit）药品问题继续开展工作，但是上周晚些时候召开的一个会议暴露出一些方面对该组织的工作方式表示担心。
Alors que l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) continue de travailler sur la question des médicaments contrefaits, une réunion organisée en fin de semaine dernière a révélé des inquiétudes quant à la manière dont ce travail est mené.
Europe will request the publication of the current drafts for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) at the next ACTA negotiating meeting in New Zealand in April, EU trade official Luc Devigne said today.
Speaking at the third EU stakeholder meeting on the hotly debated ACTA today in Brussels, Devigne also said there is also a meeting with civil society planned to take place alongside the New Zealand round.
The European Parliament today voted overwhelmingly in favour of a demand to be kept fully informed about the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement under negotiation by the European Commission and about a dozen countries outside Europe. Parliament also opposed controversial provisions such as personal searches at European borders and cutting internet access for anyone found infringing copyright online three times.
A representative of Google and of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union today spoke of internet freedom in repressive regimes and censorship in Western democracies.
A recent UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) conference on the benefits of agricultural biotechnologies in Guadalajara, Mexico, sparked strong reactions from peasant organisations and civil society.