Original news and analysis on international IP policy
General assumptions saying that intellectual property protection leads to development through the promotion of innovation are not supported by academic research, a well-known professor said last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Only countries at a certain level of development can truly benefit from IP protection, he said.
PARIS -- La Revue Prescrire, a French journal for healthcare professionals, has chosen “Private Patents and Public Health” — a 2016 book written by Ellen ’t Hoen — as one of four winners of its 2017 Prescrire Prize Book Award. Calling it “a major reference work on access to medicines and the patent system,” Prescrire praised ’t Hoen’s book both for its extensive collection of data and examples as well as its readability. (Medicines Law & Policy contributor, Kaitlin Mara was the editor of the book).
NEW YORK -- Assuring the quality of medicines all the way to the consumer is a key component of the global antimicrobial resistance action plan now beginning to be implemented around the world, a panel of experts said during the recent United Nations General Assembly in New York.
As electronic commerce is on the rise, attempts to regulate it are fragmented and in need of harmonisation, according to a panel at the recent World Trade Organization Public Forum. Intellectual property could be a harmonisation tool and is a market maker, one of the panellists said. Separately, a session looked at the relationship that they said should exist between trade and labour rights, and said the way goods are produced should be taken into account in WTO rules.
Innovation is vital for the development of medicines, but innovation without proper access to them is pointless, Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of World Trade Organization has said. Several other agency heads spoke at the same event, where World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed the importance of universal health coverage.
The annual World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly opened today for 10 days during which delegates have to agree on budget, and on several decisions which might lead to more normative activities on the part of the organisation, although impatience is not equally shared depending on subjects. Separately, the United States submitted a new proposal on the budget, and the European Union tabled a proposal on a new mandate for the WIPO genetic resources and traditional knowledge committee.
The annual UN World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies kick off this week for ten days during which delegates will have to find consensus on the budget for the next biennium, 2018/2019. Also on the agenda is the potential renewal of, and a proposed work programme for, the committee on genetic resources and traditional knowledge. WIPO delegates will also decide if they want to convene a high-level final negotiation for a design law treaty, and provide guidance on the work of the WIPO committee on copyright. A decision on which countries should host the next WIPO field offices has also been left to the General Assembly.
The 2017 Social Forum, an annual meeting convened by the Human Rights Council, is being held next week in Geneva, and will focus on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of the HIV epidemic and other communicable diseases and epidemics.
The government of Japan, in partnership with the African Region Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), has begun implementation of a project meant to train 1,000 people across Africa in intellectual property systems. The World Intellectual Property Organization also plays a role.
“There are shameful access disparities around the world” to life-saving medicines, Harvard University Global Access in Action project Co-Director Quentin Palfrey said at a 26 September Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington, DC. And while some of the challenges to fuller access involve pricing, getting medicines to poorer countries or populations means overcoming the obstacles of insufficient research and development (R&D) incentives, access barriers and polarised politics, he said.