Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Microsoft, a strong advocate of intellectual property protection, has launched an online IP portal in Kenya with the aim of helping innovators better understand different means of protecting their software and reap the economic benefits of their innovations. The initiative is planned to spread to other African countries.
United Nations experts are underlining the importance of using the term “indigenous peoples” in a UN draft set of sustainable development goals from which they say the term has been deleted.
An Indian pharmaceutical industry group has challenged the United States Trade Representative’s assessment of India’s intellectual property protection regime and suggested that India received more severe treatment than other countries solely on the basis of treatment of patented pharmaceuticals that it says is allowed under international rules.
New generic top-level domain names seem set to be a constant source of discussions and dissension. The domain “.pharmacy” has been awarded to a United States pharmacy association with industry backing, stirring concerns among civil society and others. But the association insists it will work in an impartial manner to ensure safety of online pharmaceutical sales.
A European Union-funded initiative is seeking to strengthen the links between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the research community on environmental technologies.
Is Europe the most innovative region in the world? In a well-regarded report, Switzerland has again been deemed the world’s most innovative nation, followed by the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. But the annual Global Innovation Index also shows a persistent innovation divide between developed and developing countries, and this year focuses on the human factor in innovation.
The Medicines Patent Pool has announced seven new sub-licensing agreements to produce generic HIV medicines in order to make more affordable versions available to developing countries.
Unfertilised human eggs that can't develop into human beings are generally not “human embryos” within the meaning of the EU directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, a 17 July European Court of Justice Advocate General opinion said. The opinion is good news for researchers into stem cell therapies, said a member of the industry group IP Federation, who added he hopes it will be upheld by the ECJ. But one biotech civil society member said the ruling, if it stands, could be abused.
Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, today hailed open knowledge in government, science, the internet, and education, and called again for "urgent reform" of copyright.
A joint United Nations commission on food safety this week has set several new standards on level of lead, arsenic and drugs appearing in food.
According to a report released today by the United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), around 19 million of the 35 million people living with HIV do not know that they have the virus. But if the right steps are taken, the epidemic could be ended by 2030, it says.
As the governments of the largest emerging economies gather this week in Brazil, a civil society coalition has issued a call for them to lead change in the global system of internet governance in light of revelations of mass surveillance. The groups provide suggestions for constructing a system that ensures human rights, equity and social justice for all people.