Original news and analysis on international IP policy
After years of mostly discontented discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on IP and development, last week proved positive, with a 10 year political knot solved, an international conference, and a new project approved, as well as a number of recommendations to implement the 2007 WIPO Development Agenda.
The World Intellectual Property Organization, as a United Nations specialised agency, has a role to play in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030. How that might happen, and which goals the organisation should pursue are a matter of ongoing discussion at the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property this week. Views diverge on whether the 17 SDGs should be considered as a whole, of if the organisation should focus on what is considered as its particular expertise and mission.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The belief that intellectual property promotes foreign direct investment and international trade has brought tension in African countries’ ability to eliminate trade barriers, and to ensure local governments are able to develop policies that respond to local needs, according to an extensive new analysis.
The World Health Organization has concluded a major one-day forum on fair pricing of medicines, bringing a wide range of stakeholders together in Amsterdam and coming up with several possible actions for the way ahead. Key points of discussion included a definition of fair pricing, moving away from value-based pricing, delinkage of price from research and development costs, and greater transparency, according to participants.
Two new studies published by the World Health Organization provide insight on the production of pharmaceutical products in India and China. According to the studies, China has a substantial local pharmaceutical manufacturing sector which the Chinese government is closely linking to its policy objective of universal health care. India, the main global provider of generic medicines is not pursuing a comparable focus on universal health care. India is increasingly faced with Chinese pharmaceutical sector competition, with China being its main provider of commoditized active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Inventions to contribute to the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have been rewarded. A reactor which converts carbon dioxide into ethanol, a method for the detection of pesticides and contaminants in food, and renewable leather created from bacteria won the heart of the jury.
The Group of 20 (G20) ministers responsible for the digital economy today called for further efforts to advance access to the internet for everyone and close the digital gaps that still exist. Gathered in Dusseldorf, Germany, for the two-day IT related preparatory conference for the G20 Summit in Hamburg in July, the ministers signed a declaration on “Shaping the Digitalisation for an Interconnected World.” It was the first time that ministers for digital economy met in the G20 format.
Later this month, the third edition of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development week dedicated to electronic commerce will take place. With a value estimated at US$22 trillion globally, e-commerce is booming for business, but mostly still escaping developing countries.
It’s early February in Tchaourou district, Borgou in Benin, and a pregnant woman is admitted to hospital. Her premature baby is born by caesarean section but she dies a day later on February 12th. It turns out she had Lassa fever, a deadly viral haemorrhagic disease. But that’s only discovered after the baby is discharged from hospital and taken to northern Togo. The newborn also becomes ill and is taken to hospital for treatment.
Concerns continue to grow among civil society about provisions in a major trade agreement in the Asian region. Of specific worry is the intellectual property chapter containing in particular a data exclusivity clause, and the linkage between the investment chapter and the IP chapter.
The European Parliament announced today that its Legal Affairs Committee approved new draft legislation to bring European Union law into line with an international treaty providing copyright exceptions for special format books for visually impaired people. Limitations to the scope of the treaty, such as commercial availability or compensation, were disregarded by Parliament members.
As negotiations take place this week, an evaluation of the impact of one of the TRIPS-plus measures of the Mercosur/EU FTA on the prices of medicines in Brazil has been released. Based on the draft of the agreement, by their calculations, an additional USD 444 million would be necessary to be spent by the public health system for the purchase of six medicines alone, write Marcela Fogaça Vieira and Gabriela Costa Chaves.