Original news and analysis on international IP policy
As the future United Nations development goals are being debated and decided, two important reports make the case for inclusion of a discussion on global governance and its impact on health.
Some five minutes is all it took this morning for the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly to re-elect Francis Gurry at the head of WIPO for the next six years. All delegations taking the floor congratulated the director general and underlined the achievements under his current mandate. However, the matter of allegations by one of the WIPO deputy directors general is being investigated.
Last week, the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee ended without agreement on the conclusions of the meeting or its future work, to the dismay of librarians and archivists associations. During the week, numerous representatives of these communities gave vigorous accounts of why a treaty is vital to grant them exceptions to copyright.
Intellectual property issues may not be at the top of the post-Bali negotiations at the World Trade Organization, but there are many IP-related issues going on at the WTO. Below is an overview of some current and possible IP-related issues at the WTO.
The potential for big data to yield better outcomes in all aspects of health is tremendous, and tapping into it has only just begun, said speakers at a recent panel in Geneva.
An investment policy review undertaken by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) found that Bangladesh needs to attract foreign direct investment to sustain its development and suggests that the country loosen its grip on the pharmaceutical sector. Bangladesh said the review will be carefully considered.
A presentation of the Tunis Model Law this week at a World Intellectual Property Organization side event addressed how it could be updated and used as a tool to help developing countries implement new developments in international copyright-related law.
During a signing ceremony held today at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Union, France, Greece and India signed the treaty adopted last June to provide a wider access to copyrighted books in special format for visually impaired people.
The latest United Nations report on climate change offers advice for international and national intellectual property policies relating to climate change mitigation technology. Although strong IP rights may foster green technology development and transfer in developed countries, there is a lack of evidence to support IP strengthening in developing countries, it concludes.
The final outcome document of the two-day NetMundial internet governance meeting in Sao Paolo has been posted. The meeting took place on 23-24 April. The document is available here. The 11-page “statement” document contains different sections addressing key related and…
Greg Perry has been executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for over a year now, since January 2013. Under his guidance, MPP shares that it has launched a “series of new licensing agreements and negotiations with key patent holders and generic medicines companies.” Intellectual Property Watch sat down with Perry recently to discuss why the MPP is so important as an alternative business model, the context of the MPP, changes in the global approach to the issue of access, and how the MPP fits within the Geneva context.
Consensus on the outcome document seemed elusive on day one of the NetMundial meeting that started in Sao Paulo yesterday. But ambitions are high for many.