Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The South African minister leading the charge in drafting a revised intellectual property policy for the country has expressed his dismay at reports of a pharmaceutical company campaign aimed at derailing the process of implementing the new IP policy.
Availability and accessibility of vaccines in middle-income countries was raised today at the World Health Organization as member states are ploughing through a heavy agenda. Noncommunicable diseases were also discussed and delegates sitting on the Executive Board agreed on a formal meeting before the next World Health Assembly to complete terms of reference for a global coordination mechanism to prevent and control the growing epidemic.
European Union Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht today announced a three-month public consultation on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
The World Health Organization Executive Board opened this morning with a packed agenda, which prompted the chair to warn participants to restrict their statements. Director General Margaret Chan described as problematic the temptation to address all public health issues, and encouraged member states to focus on strategic and selective goals. Member countries also expressed concerns about the length of the agenda.
The World Health Organization has been soul-searching for several years since running into deep debt and seeing private organisations gather influence in global public health policy. Next week, the WHO Board will consider a proposal on how to allow the intergovernmental body work with such organisations and industry without giving up its own independence and oversight role.
The Quaker UN Office in Geneva has announced two new publications on intellectual property, agriculture, food and biological diversity.
DG Shah writes: Acquisition of brownfield, or existing, pharmaceutical companies may be seen in different perspectives as greenfield, or new, projects are permitted 100% equity via the automatic route. India has sought FDI mainly to bridge the shortfall in investment or to facilitate the flow of know-how and technology. We must first assess the need of the pharma sector and then evaluate whether mere change of ownership would meet its needs.
Richard Hill, an independent consultant in Geneva who was formerly a senior staff member at the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), recently published, “The New International Telecommunication Regulations and the Internet: A Commentary and Legislative History.” In a set of questions with Intellectual Property Watch’s William New, Hill talked about his book, which explains the significance of the 1988 and 2012 International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) and covers the preparatory process leading up to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). The book also discusses the events leading to the non-signature by the treaty of a significant number of states, outlines possible consequences of that split between states, and offers possible ways forward.
Participants at a recent conference in South Africa offered insights and some optimism about prospects for local communities to exploit their traditional knowledge to help their economies while at the same time protecting that knowledge.
A 12-year-old World Health Organization programme for prequalifying medical products has helped international organisations and others to safely purchase billions of US dollars' worth of quality medicines per year, but now is at risk due to funding shortages, a new study released today found.
2013 was an awkward year in the United States for so-called “patent trolls.” These companies, whose primary business is monetising their patents through licensing and litigation, faced growing criticism from academics, business executives, and US government officials. 2014 could prove even worse for trolls: America’s Congress, courts and executive branch are now considering various measures that would make patent trolling more difficult. And those are just some of the major changes that are likely to roil the US IP system this year.
World Health Organization member governments have been working for several years to agree on ways to prevent the spread of dangerous and misleading substandard and fake medical products. Now, they seem to be moving in the direction of concrete action.