Category Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer

Unitaid Official Explains How ‘Breakthrough’ HIV Medicine Pricing Deal Brings Best To The Neediest

NEW YORK -- In the midst of the high-level meetings of the annual United Nations General Assembly last week, health officials from the UN and foundations announced what they called a breakthrough pricing agreement that will speed the availability of "the first affordable, generic, single-pill HIV treatment regimen containing [the key compound] dolutegravir to public sector purchasers in low- and middle-income countries at around $75 per person, per year." A senior official at Unitaid, the drug purchasing mechanism that helped reach the deal, explained to Intellectual Property Watch how it came about and why this is significant.

Panel Advances Key Public Interest Issues In Gene Editing Technology

WASHINGTON, DC -- The still-emerging breakthrough CRISPR gene editing tool has the potential to transform the field and do enormous good for humankind. But let’s make sure we understand it better and ensure the public interest before launching into using it too widely. Meanwhile, companies and researchers are actively licensing the technology. That was a message of a set of panellists working close to CRISPR’s development, speaking at a recent event in Washington, DC.

UN Assembly Tackles Role Of Technology And Innovation In Sustainable Development

Governments and the private sector must work more closely together in the area of technology and innovation to make the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality by 2030, government and major tech company officials said at today’s UN high-level event in New York. Today’s development problems won’t be solved with yesterday’s solutions but by all stakeholders – governments, civil society, youth, businesses and academia – working together, said General Assembly President Miroslav Lajčák. Everyone must have “fair access to technologies and innovations” and to training, he said.

New WIPO External Offices: Candidates At The Door, But What’s In It For WIPO?

For the last two years, World Intellectual Property Organization delegates have been trying to tackle a seemingly unsolvable equation: too many candidate countries for four new WIPO external offices. Yet more time seems necessary to reduce the number of candidates, which show no sign of stepping down, insisting on the value of a WIPO external office. However, some doubts have begun to arise over the benefits of the expansion of WIPO's network of field offices.

CSIS Report Finds Tech, Innovation Partnership Opportunities In Developing Countries

"There are clear opportunities to accelerate and expand opportunity through innovation and technology around the world," finds a new report from the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). And the United States - and any other developed country - would do well to position itself as a "partner of choice for developing countries that want to transform their economies through science, technology and innovation," it said. But strong intellectual property rights and a business-friendly environment are a necessity, it argues.

Between Human Rights And IP: An Interview With Laurence Helfer, Co-Author Of Guide To Marrakesh Treaty Implementation

When in 2013, in Marrakesh, Morocco, a new World Intellectual Property Organization treaty establishing exceptions and limitations for people with visual impairment was adopted, it was hailed by some as a miracle. Entered into force in 2016, the way states implement the treaty is of major importance for the World Blind Union (WBU) so that the treaty serves its purpose to expand access to books for visually impaired people. Laurence Helfer is co-author of a Guide: The World Blind Union Guide to the Marrakesh Treaty: Facilitating Access to Books for Print-Disabled Individuals. Alongside the recent session of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, he sat down with Intellectual Property Watch Senior Writer Catherine Saez to explain the main aims and messages of the Guide.

New Guide Shows How Best To Implement Marrakesh Treaty So Books Are Accessible To Visually Impaired

The World Blind Union (WBU) has recently issued a guide to the World Intellectual Property Organization treaty providing copyright exceptions for visually impaired people. If the treaty was hailed by all, the way it is implemented could be a gamechanger, and the WBU provides advice to all stakeholders, and in particular governments, so that the treaty is interpreted and implemented to the best interest of the visually impaired. The union also warns against the implementation of two optional provisions, which they say could run counter to the aims of the treaty.

Fifa Rahman

Malaysia Inclusion In Gilead Voluntary Licence – A Product Of Compulsory Licence Pressure

Gilead’s announcement today that they would include four middle-income countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Belarus, Ukraine) in their sofosbuvir voluntary licence was a welcome surprise, and will enable millions access to their highly effective, but exorbitantly priced, drug. The decision to include these countries, however, no doubt is a response to increasing pressure from within these countries to either issue a compulsory licence (CL) or a government use licence (GUL), invalidate the sofosbuvir patents, or block data exclusivity for the drug.

INTA Pro Bono Trademark Clearinghouse Takes Off

This summer, the International Trademark Association (INTA), the global trademark industry group, launched a one-of-a-kind pilot program offering pro bono attorneys the opportunity to help nonprofits and others obtain and protect trademarks. And in its first weeks, it is already receiving submissions and a positive response, according to an INTA representative.

Report From WHO Fair Pricing Meeting Shows Balanced Discussion

A wide range of governments and stakeholders attended a closed meeting in the Netherlands in May to address the ongoing problem of pricing medicines to pay for research and the resulting lack of affordability of those medicines. The report from the World Health Organization-led meeting shows a range of points were made by participants and signals a move to change the global policy.