Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Catherine Saez Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are important players in intellectual property policy debates but should be aware of limitations and potential improvements to their influence with developing countries, according to a new report from the United Kingdom. NGOs working…
[Please note: This interview has been republished to clarify the transcription.] Howard Alan Zucker, assistant director general of health technology and pharmaceuticals at the World Health Organization, is among other things in charge of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen
The year 2006 was a busy one in terms of health policy developments related to intellectual property rights, and a quick look at the events ahead in 2007 shows that the coming year should be no less interesting.
By William New In her opening remarks to staff on her first day in office, new World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan said she would not rock the organisation boat, would focus policy on women and Africa, issued a warning…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Switzerland has begun a new kind of collaboration at the national level with the aim of moving beyond the old “patents are good/patents are bad” debate, particularly when it comes to intellectual property and public…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The United States has busily negotiated bilateral free trade agreements with a variety of developing countries in recent years, and now appears to be using these to influence those countries’ positions in multilateral bodies such…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen During a 4-8 December meeting of some 100 World Health Organization (WHO) member states and other stakeholders, the foundation was laid for discussions of a global plan for providing medicines for diseases predominantly affecting poor…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Participants in this week’s ground-breaking meeting of a World Health Organization group working to stimulate research on neglected diseases hailed the cooperative spirit of the group after three days. But early in the 7 December…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen After a slow start in a weeklong meeting on intellectual property and public health, World Health Organization (WHO) member states appear to have begun discussing the possible substance of a plan to ensure that medical…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The biotechnology industry has proposed to change the international generic naming of medicine ingredients, which at the moment are public property, into unique names for each medicine, making it harder to substitute them with cheaper…
By William New In its bilateral negotiation with the United States in order to join the World Trade Organization, Russia appears to have agreed to intellectual property rights standards that push those of the WTO and US law to new…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Submissions to the World Health Organization (WHO) online public consultation on the intergovernmental working group on public health, innovation and intellectual property show that the debate is quite polarised, and that the group is therefore…