Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Steve Gibb for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – The director of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is facing overwhelming opposition to a plan to privatise an open-access environmental science journal NIEHS publishes, according to…
PRAGUE – Les groupes industriels pro-brevets, qui ont investi des sommes considérables pour influencer les débats au sein de l’Europe sur un projet de directive – finalement rejeté – en matière de brevetabilité des inventions mises en oeuvre par ordinateur,…
Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has launched a new initiative under which it says it will offer manufacturers in least developed countries technical assistance in producing generic HIV/AIDS medicines, but it is unclear how many companies will be able to benefit…
Prague — Patent-dependent industries that spent heavily for lobbying on a failed directive on the patentability of computer-related inventions are learning from their mistakes as they prepare for the possible resurrection of the issue. Lobbyists attending a Progress and Freedom…
A United States law firm representing public health groups filed suit against the US government on 14 December for a failure to be consulted by industry-heavy government advisory groups on trade policy. The case was filed in US District Court…
Members of the United States House of Representatives visited Geneva this week to learn more about ongoing trade negotiations and policy related to the possible avian influenza pandemic. The bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats met on 28 November with…
By Steve Gibb for Intellectual Property Watch Washington, DC–A US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) plan to privatise a prestigious open-access environmental science journal is drawing criticism from Democrats in the US Congress and activists who say public…
Lyon, France—Calling counterfeit medicines a “form of terrorism against public health,” a senior Nigerian health official urged a 14-15 November international conference in Lyon, France to support the adoption of an international convention to fight the problem. “I urge this…
While Swiss-based Roche, the rights holder to the most-favoured medicine for avian influenza, is pursuing sub-licenses, India is moving ahead with exploring the option of compulsory licensing. If this goes through, India would be able to export Tamiflu to developing…
By Sarah Lai Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch A wall of opposition from the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and independent inventor communities this year gutted some of the most controversial provisions from an ambitious patent reform bill introduced in July in the…
Brazil, a developing country leader on international intellectual property issues, has come under pressure at home and abroad over whether to lift domestic patents on foreign pharmaceuticals for AIDS to allow cheaper generic versions to be produced. This week, nearly…
Ten years after the signing of a multilateral agreement pitched as a vehicle to help developing countries defend against unilateral actions against them by larger countries, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual report on trading partners’ protection…