Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A joint project being launched by a regional non-profit group along with the Ecuador’s intellectual property office (IEPI) aims to reduce software piracy by offering a free software alternative through public libraries. The initiative is meant to encourage the use of legal software and thereby lower the piracy rate.
The World Health Organization needs to streamline its functions and make more space for civil society, and international health systems must be strengthened in order to achieving public health goals, said panellists at this week’s Geneva Health Forum.
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.
Public health authorities and observers in Geneva this week are discussing problems and possible solutions to medicines pricing and availability in developing countries. But concerns were raised yesterday about a World Health Organization expert group on medicines access and innovation.
Computer giant IBM is facing an antitrust claim before the European Commission brought by an open source software company alleging that IBM is preventing customers from using that software. Meanwhile, the open source community is worried that the use of intellectual property rights by IBM - a leading open source software maker – to block a competitor will endanger free and open source software and might uncap other IP rights claims from other players. IBM, for its part, is reaffirming its support to open source community and has asked the competing company to explain how its software does not infringe on IBM IP rights.
Several members of the European Parliament today sent letters to the directors general of the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization requesting technical assistance in the negotiation of an agreement that some are calling an attempt to circumvent global norms on intellectual property enforcement and related public interest flexibility.
A review of the World Health Organization’s response to the 2009 pandemic influenza outbreak kicked off this week, with firm statements from those involved in the response that they were not unduly influenced by outside stakeholders. Still, serious questions remain about the coordination effort, as a nearly a year after the pandemic was declared developed countries find themselves having to dispose of excess vaccines while poorer countries are reporting they have yet to obtain as many as they need.
Today, board members of international drug purchasing mechanism UNITAID approved a 2010 budget for a pioneering patent pool initiative.
The United Kingdom Parliament late last night approved a controversial digital economy bill that allows the court to impose obligations on internet service providers to limit internet access of its users deemed to have infringed online copyrights.
Lassi Jyrkkiö writes: Anything one can consider as politically cool from an EU perspective, ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, the multilateral treaty to combat counterfeiting and piracy) negotiations have got it all: the internet, the USA, large potential for media exposure and a hitherto Nixonian element of secrecy balanced by a flow of thrilling documents leaked by generous deep-throats.
The truth about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is different depending on which side you are on.