Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture published a report providing financial and technical information on the first project portfolio of its Benefit-sharing Fund.
The following is a reprint from the EU research and development network, Cordis, summarising recent activity on the EU Digital Agenda.
The Digital Agenda for Europe and its 101 actions form a vital part of the overall Europe 2020 strategy for securing smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The actions are organised in seven pillars, or 'containers': digital single market, interoperability and standards, trust and security, fast and ultra-fast internet access, research and innovation, digital literacy, skills and inclusion, and ICT-enabled benefits for EU society. In the previous part of this story we covered the digital single market, interoperability, security, and fast internet access. Next we look at ICT support for research…
Alongside the World Intellectual Property Organization meeting on protection of genetic resources last week, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) organised a side event on natural product research.
At the World Intellectual Property Organization meeting on protection of genetic resources last week, the secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) organised a side event to introduce the key features and recent developments of the international protocol on access and benefit-sharing of such resources.
The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office has appointed its fourth IP attaché, this time to represent UK businesses in the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Intellectual Ventures, a patent holding company, has filed a patent infringement suit against DSL providers AT&T, CenturyLink and Windstream Communications.
A 2011 letter from the top Republican on the United States Senate Finance Committee condemned efforts by the Global Fund to train public health officials on the use of flexibilities to the patent system contained in international trade rules. The letter, which also attacked the purchase of generic medicines over brand-name drugs, came just months before the US helped remove the head of the Global Fund, ultimately replacing him with an American official.
The coming year promises to be very interesting at the intersection of intellectual property with biotechnology and biodiversity. Patentability of human genes in the United States, of conventionally bred plants in Europe, plant breeders' rights and the management of regulatory authorisations when patents on genetic traits expire, the future of genetically modified organisms in developing countries, and the usual resistance they are meeting from civil society and famers' groups are some of the issues that will continue to feed debates – and potentially create opportunities - in 2013.
An industry-backed group of experts has issued a report identifying significant obstacles to addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and proposing solutions to reduce premature deaths caused by NCDs.
Copyright for Librarians (CFL), an online open curriculum on copyright law, has launched a new textbook aimed at providing librarians in developing and transition countries with general information concerning copyright law in addition to the aspects of the law that most affect libraries.
The heads of state of the African Union (AU), the regional body working on African integration, have decided to proceed with the establishment of a Pan-African Intellectual Property Office (PAIPO), despite misgivings about the potential impact on their local economies.
The launch of a study co-edited by the World Trade Organization, World Health Organization, and World Intellectual Property Organization on the intersection between public health, intellectual property and trade drew a full attendance from a wide array of stakeholders on 5 February.