Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Some international organisations are having to gear up to address proposed cuts to their budgets announced this month by the United States, in many cases the major funder. Geneva-based health agencies this week responded that they are counting on the US not to make significant cuts.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation launched a project last year to measure progress in artificial intelligence innovations and understand the legal, political, and technical issues potentially raised by those inventions. Some eight months later, the project has tracked rapid progress of those technologies, in particular in machine learning. According to the foundation, patents might be hampering the progress of artificial intelligence, and with the risk of patent trolls claiming rights on patents on machine learning systems.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is predicting a slight decline in some patent filings for 2018 and 2019, including through the international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) managed by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Trademarks, meanwhile, will likely see slowing growth.
The United States Chamber of Commerce industry group recently issued its annual global IP index, analysing intellectual property protection in 50 countries, as a prelude to the annual US government list of countries seen as not adequately protection US companies' IP rights. Now an Indian industry group has issued a counter-statement to the Chamber index, calling it a "tirade" and "self-serving".
More than 50 organisations representing a range of teachers, students, trainers, researchers, scientists, librarians and others have joined together to call on the European Parliament to improve European copyright reform for education.
The United States Chamber of Commerce sixth annual International IP Index, released yesterday, highlights positive developments in 50 economies to better protect intellectual property rights so as to reward creativity and innovation. But it also takes aim at practices the US industry group still sees as counterproductive.
Every year at this time, the Office of the United States Trade Representative collects comments from stakeholders for its review of how well US trading partners are behaving when it comes to protecting and enforcing the intellectual property rights of US companies. Pharmaceutical companies and an alliance of rights holding industries came prepared with a list of countries to be put on special watch lists, including Canada, Brazil, India, Malaysia, and Switzerland. A patient group, on the other hand, asked that trade interests not supersede access to medicines worldwide.
A newly leaked 2016 letter from the CEO of Novartis to the president of Colombia, made available by Swiss group Public Eye, shows the level of concern the Swiss pharmaceutical company had over the effect of possible issuance of a compulsory licence for Novartis drug Glivec in the pivotal South American economy.
The International Generic and Biosimilar medicines Association has launched an information campaign on biosimilar medicines in order to raise worldwide understanding and acceptance of biosimilar medicines.
The engagement of actors such as industry, civil society, philanthropy and academia with the World Health Organization has been a subject of controversy, with some of those actors being potentially able to influence the work of the organisation. A framework for engagement with those stakeholders was agreed two years ago. At last week's Executive Board meeting, the new WHO director general explained that engagement with those actors, and notably industry, is worth the risk, which he said can be managed.