Original news and analysis on international IP policy
WARSAW -- More than twenty years after Poland’s parliament passed the Authors’ and Related Rights law of 1994, the Polish government is drafting three bills to modify the country’s intellectual property legislation. The first of the drafts prepared by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National heritage was submitted to the Parliament in March, and is currently being deliberated, while the ministry is finishing work on the remaining two drafts.
The World Health Organization today published its updated Model List of Essential Medicines, including high-priced new treatments for hepatitis C, cancers and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) that were quickly applauded by the public health advocacy community.
Least developed countries (LDCs) at the World Trade Organization have requested that a waiver allowing them to not enforce intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products be extended beyond its deadline of 1 January 2016. The brand pharmaceutical industry this week stated that it supports access to medicines for LDCs but does not see the need for this extension as LDCs already benefit from a WTO waiver on all products until 2021.
the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) provided its recommendations on how to slow down antimicrobial resistance and boost antibiotic research and development. In addition, the association organised a forum on the subject today.
In Chile, pharmaceutical patents are almost exclusively the domain of foreign companies. Only a subset of drugs is protected by patents, while a much larger number of products is protected by trademarks, a study finds, offering for the first time empirical evidence on the use of primary and secondary patents in Chile.
At the close of the session of the World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) last week, delegates left on a positive note. Despite not achieving concrete results on several issues, the meeting was described as encouraging by some participants. Technical assistance remained one of the prickly issues, as well as the mechanism for WIPO committees to report on their implementation of the Development Agenda.
Participation in global value chains contributes to economic growth, while trade and trade-related policies, such as foreign direct investment, intellectual property protection, trade facilitation, infrastructure and institutions, together with deeper regional integration have important impacts on global value chain integration in developing countries. This was the view of speakers at a recent event in Geneva.
Universities play an enormous role in biomedical research in the United States, but are not doing all they can to advance research for neglected diseases or make their innovations available to people who need them most, the student groupUniversities Allied…
The United Nations independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order raised concerns over the lack of awareness about the negative effects that free trade and investment agreements have on human rights, especially in developing countries.…
Among the outstanding issues at the World Intellectual Property Organization is how WIPO committees report to the General Assembly on their implementation of the organisation's Development Agenda Recommendations. At this week's meeting on the issue, a new proposal submitted by Mexico attempts to breach differences.
The World Health Organization is reviewing its list of essential medicines this week. Over 70 candidate medicines are expected to be assessed by an Expert Committee. Some of those medicines are under patent and highly priced, which poses an accessibility challenge.
The World Health Organization has announced that its Global Medicines Safety Database is now open to the general public. The database named VigiAccess can now be accessed on any computer or smartphone in the world.