Category Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer

A New Model For IP: Interview With Ecuador IP Office Director Hernán Núñez Rocha

Ecuador is preparing a new intellectual property policy that aims to better suit the country's strategic development. On the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly, Hernán Núñez Rocha, head of the Ecuadorian IP office sat with Intellectual Property Watch to talk about the country's work on the IP policy and its use of IP as a tool for local development. He also explained Ecuador's position on the WIPO committee on traditional knowledge.

WTO TRIPS Council To Decide On LDC Pharma Extension, Non-Violation Complaints

The intellectual property committee of the World Trade Organization is meeting this week with a full agenda. The highlight of the agenda is the extension of a waiver allowing least developed countries to choose not to enforce intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products. Also high on the agenda is a decision on whether to extend a moratorium banning IP from complaints not linked to any breached WTO agreement, and the annual review of special compulsory licence for exporting pharmaceutical products.

WTO Paper Could Spark New Ideas On TRIPS Special Compulsory Licence For Medicines Export

A carefully agreed 2003 waiver from international intellectual property trade rules to allow export of medicines made under compulsory licence to benefit needy countries has been quietly implemented by a large number of World Trade Organization members, according to a new analytical paper from the WTO. The analysis explores the limited use of the waiver to date and how the situation has changed since then, providing grist for a potential fresh look at the provision at this week’s annual WTO review of IP and public health.

International Red Cross ‘Makeathon’ To Help Persons With Disabilities In Rural Areas

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will launch in November the Enable Makeathon, a programme aimed at developing affordable solutions for persons with disabilities in rural areas.

At WTO, Governments, Health Advocates See Benefit From TRIPS; LDC Waiver Urged

Access to medicines and innovations was the subject of a panel organised at the World Trade Organization Public Forum last week. After 20 years of the WTO intellectual property agreement, panellists looked at the impact of the agreement on access to medicines, and in particular the use of its flexibilities. In addition, a delegate of India detailed the legal-political aspects of an upcoming WTO decision on disputes for harmful actions that do not technically violate any WTO rules.

WIPO Director Sees Tougher Times For Multilateral IP Treaties

Negotiations for new global policies on intellectual property has become more challenging due to a greater competition in innovation, knowledge asymmetries, and the push for bilateral and regional treaties, the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization said today.

IP Clauses In FTAs Should Not Go Beyond TRIPS, Generics Manufacturers Say

Free trade agreements should include incentives for generic and biosimilar medicines, speakers said at a panel during the World Trade Organization Public Forum last week.

WTO Panels Look At Partnerships, Digital Trade

Among the many topics at last week’s World Trade Organization Public Forum were panels on o partnerships and on digital trade. This article takes a brief look at two of the panels that touched on intellectual property rights.

Policy Coherence To Boost East Africa Pharmaceutical Industry

KAMPALA, UGANDA - The pharmaceutical industry in the East African Community is approaching a higher level of production quality and manufacturing practices. To benefit the industry and increase access to medicines, stakeholders are working towards a united regulatory policy framework aimed at harmonising industrial, health and regulatory policies.

The Trillion-Dollar Technology

The smartphone is one of the most ubiquitous inventions in contemporary life. Ask anyone from teenagers to senior citizens – in industrialized countries, as well as emerging markets – about the wireless ways of their life, and they will tell you this. But what is the economic impact of mobile? That is not as obvious, writes Antonio Varas.