Original news and analysis on international IP policy
On 21 January, 2010, the China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS) issued and requested comments from all stakeholders on its Disposal Rules for Inclusion of Patents in National Standards (Disposal Rules).
Brand name pharmaceutical companies’ concerns about profit losses related to the UNITAID patent pool might undermine access to newer and appropriate HIV medicine formulations in resource-limited settings. A universally agreed strategy to supplement UNITAID plan is therefore needed, writes Daniele Dionisio.
La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) continúa trabajando en el tema de los medicamentos falsificados, pero la semana pasada una reunión reveló preocupaciones progresivas sobre la forma de conducir la labor.
Work to address counterfeit medicines continues at the World Health Organization, but a meeting late last week revealed ongoing concerns about the way it is being conducted.
Advocates of stronger protection of geographical indications are working to develop greater awareness in Geneva policy circles, trying to win over countries reluctant to adopt a specific GI protection system.
The World Health Organization’s handling of the recent pandemic influenza outbreak will be examined by an independent panel of experts beginning in April. Meanwhile, new reports from the WHO are available on influenza and on intellectual property and innovation.
“No changes in domestic” law promised the partners currently negotiating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A leaked 56-page recent consolidated version of the much-discussed agreement shows that this might not be completely true. The draft version with a lot of bracketed text in it shows that some countries are more open about the potential need to change their domestic laws than others.
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), an intergovernmental agency that provides technical advice and guidelines for the identification and protection of new plants, will have a new leader for the first time in a decade, it was decided Friday.
The UN Human Rights Council yesterday extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food for three years. The resolution, A, adopted without a vote, requests that the special rapporteur “continue to monitor the evolution of the…
The expansion of internet domain names as proposed is worrying to trademark owners as a significant number cybersquatting cases continue to be filed in the World Intellectual Property Organization dispute resolution system, WIPO said this week. Meanwhile internet intermediaries should play a bigger role in the fight against trademark infringement, WIPO officials said.
Delegates to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity today begin the last formal meeting before a late-2010 deadline to negotiate an agreement ensuring fair and equitable access to and benefits from the world’s scarce biological resources.
Europe will request the publication of the current drafts for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) at the next ACTA negotiating meeting in New Zealand in April, EU trade official Luc Devigne said today.
Speaking at the third EU stakeholder meeting on the hotly debated ACTA today in Brussels, Devigne also said there is also a meeting with civil society planned to take place alongside the New Zealand round.