Category Venues

Interview With Catherine Chammartin, Director General Of The Swiss Federal Institute Of Intellectual Property

Catherine Chammartin is the Director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI). A former specialist in international tax policy, she took office at IPI in November 2015. In an exclusive interview with Intellectual Property Watch's Catherine Saez, she explained the priorities of the office under her leadership, and the office's contribution to the success of Switzerland's innovation record.

New Report: Mitigating Patent Linkage To Promote Medicines Access In LMICs

A new report reviews how patent linkage mechanisms have been implemented in South Korea, Australia, Canada, and the United States, and identifies precedents for how low and middle-income countries (LMICs) can retain and exploit “constructive ambiguities” in trade treaty text to mitigate the impacts of patent linkage mechanisms and promote the timely availability of generic medicines.

Multi-Agency Conference Addresses Positive Aspects Of ‘Respect For IP’

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Conference delegates at the Respect for IP international conference held in South Africa this week were participants in a series of top-level panel discussions about the conference theme that included views about balancing intellectual property’s economic value with achieving social development goals.

USPTO Director: It’s A New Day At The PTAB! Is It A New Day For Low-Quality Patents?

United States Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu yesterday proclaimed what industry patent attorneys may have wanted to hear, that the recently implemented system for challenging the quality of patents in the United States could be reined in under his leadership.

US Releases New Medicare Drug Plan To “Pay The Prices Other Countries Pay”

The United States Department of Health and Human Services has released a new plan intended to reduce drug prices for some patients on Medicare, based on an international pricing index model. In his announcement of the plan, President Trump said the US would save money “for our seniors by paying the prices other countries pay. Nothing special, just the prices that other countries pay.”

ICANN Frees .Amazon Domain For Company Delegation

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has lifted the stop on delegating the .amazon top-level domain, effectively handing it to the company over the South American region, depending on agreement with states in the Amazon region.

Investing In New Antibiotic Research: Difficult Equation Discussed At World Investment Forum

The diminishing arsenal of efficient antibiotics to fight bacteria is a threat denounced by many, but investment in research and development of new antibiotics is seen as lagging. As the danger of getting back to a pre-antibiotic age is increasing, alternative ways of financing new antibiotics are being discussed. At the World Investment Forum this week, a panel looked into innovative means of investment, and ways to attract private investors to this field.

Near-Monopolies On HCV Diagnostics Curb Competition, Keep Prices High, Research Finds

Monopoly prices of diagnostic tools and lack of competition in the market constitute a barrier to treatment for people with hepatitis C virus (HCV), but the increased use of “open” diagnostic platforms could reduce prices, a health advocacy research study has found.

US Interference In EU SPC Manufacturing Waiver “Unacceptable,” Says EU Generic Industry Group

Generics industry group Medicines for Europe has declared United States interference in the European Union legislative process on the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) manufacturing waiver “unacceptable,” and an attempt to “influence the outcome of this EU legislative proposal.”

WHO Members Consider Possible Changes To Pandemic Influenza Framework

A hundred years ago, the influenza pandemic known as the “Spanish flu” infected one-third of the world population, and resulted in an estimated 50 million deaths. Last week, the World Health Organization held a consultation on possible changes to its 2011 agreement to prepare for the next pandemic influenza. Two major questions were on the table: whether to extend its agreement to seasonal influenza, and how to deal with pandemic influenza genetic information, which is increasingly used instead of biological samples of viruses.