Category Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer

Interview With WIPO Director General Francis Gurry On New WIPO Treaty

With this week’s agreement in Marrakesh, Morocco on an international treaty to ease cross-border access for the blind to copyrighted books, the UN World Intellectual Property Organization has completed its second treaty in the past 12 months - with more potentially on the way. WIPO Director General Francis Gurry sat down with Intellectual Property Watch's Catherine Saez in Morocco hours after the treaty text was agreed by WIPO members to discuss what it means.

Miracle à Marrakech: un traité “historique” pour les déficients visuels

Marrakech, Maroc – L’ambiance était à la fête au Palais des Congrès de Marrakech pour acclamer le succès des négociateurs de l’Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle dans leur tentative de produire un projet de texte consensuel. Après un début de semaine difficile, les efforts des délégués ont été couronnés de succès et les couloirs du Palais des Congrès résonnaient le 25 juin de clameurs joyeuses et d’éloges. Des larmes de joies étaient versées tandis que cette victoire était collectivement acclamée comme un accord historique. Les déficients visuels et la société civile qui les soutenait étaient euphoriques, certains se déclarant dépassés par l’ampleur de la réussite.

Medicines Patent Pool Signs New Licence Agreements

The Medicines Patent Pool, Shilpa Medicare, and Gilead Sciences have signed an agreement to increase access to HIV treatment medicines. The agreement will allow Shilpa Medicare to manufacture “five key HIV medicines for sale in 100-112 countries,” and the goal is to cover “a majority of people living with HIV.”

Miracle In Marrakesh: “Historic” Treaty For Visually Impaired Agreed

Marrakesh, Morocco - The mood was one of celebration at the Marrakesh Palais des Congrès to greet the success of World Intellectual Property Organization negotiators in their attempt to produce a draft treaty text showing consensus. After a difficult start to the week, delegates achieved success and the corridors of the conference centre echoed with laughter and congratulations. Tears of joy were shed as most celebrated this as an historic agreement. Visually impaired people and civil society supporting them were ecstatic, some said overwhelmed.

New Draft Text Shows Progress On WIPO Treaty On Books For The Print-Disabled

Marrakesh, Morocco - Negotiators were still hard at work here at press time trying to reach the deadline of tomorrow set by the president of the diplomatic conference, to get agreed language to a drafting committee tasked with delivering a treaty text. The treaty is intended to confer on visually impaired people a wider access to books by providing exceptions to copyrighted works in special format.

WIPO Economics Working Paper On Mobility Of Inventors

Central American, Caribbean, and African economies have the most “inventor brain drain” in relation to the number of home country inventors, according to a recent working paper released by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Data for the study included information on inventor nationality and residence available in Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications.