Category Asia/Pacific

Five Challenges Filed Against Gilead Patent Claims For Hepatitis C Drug

Pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences has been noted first for developing a treatment for hepatitis C, which afflicts tens of millions around the world, and then for pricing it at jaw-dropping prices ($1000 per pill) in the United States and elsewhere. Now a group of health advocates has challenged Gilead's patent applications in five emerging economies.

Divide And Conquer: The New US Strategy To Disentangle The TPP Negotiations

Burcu Kilic & Pablo Viollier write: Political leaders in Washington and other Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiating countries have set the end of May as the latest deadline for completion of the talks. The negotiations have already missed several such deadlines, so who really knows? No one. But there is something we all know: TPP raises significant concerns because negotiations are being held behind closed doors with details kept secret even from the legislatures in TPP countries.

A Look At The Huge Upswing In China Patent Filings

By Michael Sneddon While China’s reputation for producing imitations of everything from cars to computers continues to linger, it doesn’t appear to be a deterrent for foreign corporations as they increasingly seek protection for their innovations. In fact, according to…

Update On Yale/IP-Watch Effort To Open TPP Texts

Intellectual Property Watch has been working for several years to obtain more details about the intellectual property aspects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiations through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and a subsequent lawsuit to enforce that request, which is being led by a team at the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School (MFIA). Today MFIA, a program of Yale's Information Society Project and Abrams Institute, released an update on the case.

Manila Principles On Intermediary Liability Offer Vision For Balance

A new set of principles launched this week by a range of global non-governmental organisations attempts to set out guidelines for internet intermediaries’ liability for content of communications. The six principles, which are seeking endorsement from organisations and individuals worldwide, address freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to privacy.

How The Leaked TPP ISDS Chapter Threatens Intellectual Property Limitations and Exceptions

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By Prof. Sean Flynn, Associate Director, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP), American University Washington College of Law Reposted with permission from Infojustice.org, original here. I released a statement earlier today opining that the today’s leak of the…

Indian Draft Pesticides Bill Contains TRIPS-Plus Data Exclusivity, Indian Pharma Says

India is considering legislation on pesticides containing data exclusivity provisions that would raise the level of intellectual property protection above the minimum required by international trade agreements and could act as a precursor for pharmaceutical products in the country, a leading Indian industry representative warned this week. India is sensitive to restrictions on the use of marketing data of patented pharmaceuticals as it is seen as the world leader in generic medicines, which use such data.

Revolving Chairs In The IP World: People Shift Positions. But Interests? Not So Much

A lot has happened among the global intellectual property community over the past months. Beyond the usual shifts in law offices, many key positions have either changed hands or been filled. For example, the European commissioners changed, and the United States nominated a new "piracy czar" and a new head of the US Patent and Trademark Office. The International Telecommunication Union, UNITAID and other organisations have new heads. And the World Intellectual Property Organization has a new top management team.

Non-governmental organisations and the private sector also saw a lot of movement in recent months, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the International Trademark Association, the International Publishers Association, and the Motion Picture Association of America.

In this article, we take the opportunity to catch up. Here is a look at some of the changes.

Circuit Courts Open As Satellites Of China’s Supreme People’s Court

After long preparations, the Second Circuit Court of China’s Supreme People’s Court was officially instituted in Shenyang city, Liaoning province in northeast China on 31 January. Qiang Zhou, president and chief judge of China’s Supreme People’s Court, attended and addressed the nameplate unveiling ceremony of the Second Circuit Court.