Original news and analysis on international IP policy
At a hearing on data flows and data protection in trade agreements this week, several members of the European Parliament called for the clear exemption of current and future data protection regulation from ongoing trade negotiations.
World Trade Organization members this week could not decide on a request from least-developed countries to extend a waiver allowing them to forego the enforcement of intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products until their economies are stronger. Discussions are expected to be conducted informally until the next meeting of the organisation’s council on IP rights in October.
World Trade Organization Director General Roberto Azevêdo said at a press event yesterday that 2015 is a decisive year for the organisation. One of the main features is the potential conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda. He also said a recent agreement on geographical indications at the World Intellectual Property Organization would provide a boost to IP talks at WTO.
Intellectual property protection is vital to finance innovation and in particular for start-ups, according to speakers at an event co-organised this week by the European Union, Switzerland, and the United States at the World Trade Organization.
The World Trade Organization committee on intellectual property and trade this week will discuss a range of issues including a request by least-developed countries to extend the time before they are required to enforce rules on IP and pharmaceuticals. Other issues include a discussion of IP and innovation, and a moratorium on complaints about government actions that do not violate WTO rules but may harm trade.
MUNICH -- Just days before leaders of the Group of 7 (G7) industrialised countries gather in the well-guarded Bavarian Castle Elmau, a broad coalition of organisations invited free trade critics to an International Summit for Alternatives in Munich. Speaking there, Jean Ziegler, well-known former UN rapporteur for the right to food, shrugged off the possible effects of the G7 Summit.
Intellectual property rights are among the issues given detailed analysis in the latest trade policy review of India by the World Trade Organization under review this week. Turns out, India has been quite busy on IP rights over the past few years.
European Commission negotiators should back away from a controversial provision in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal that would allow companies to sue governments in arbitration courts over claimed unequal treatment, the European Parliament International Trade Committee (INTA) said on 28 May. MEPs called instead for publicly appointed, independent judges, public hearings and an appellate mechanism that respects the jurisdiction of EU and national courts, the committee said.
Over 140 non-governmental organisations, most of them local from developing countries, have co-signed a letter to World Trade Organization members to ask they agree to a request by least-developed countries to extend a waiver on their obligation to enforce intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products.
The United Nations Development Programme and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS have issued a joint statement supporting a request by least-developed countries to extend a waiver allowing them to abstain from enforcing patents on pharmaceutical products.
Least developed countries (LDCs) at the World Trade Organization have requested that a waiver allowing them to not enforce intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products be extended beyond its deadline of 1 January 2016. The brand pharmaceutical industry this week stated that it supports access to medicines for LDCs but does not see the need for this extension as LDCs already benefit from a WTO waiver on all products until 2021.
Participation in global value chains contributes to economic growth, while trade and trade-related policies, such as foreign direct investment, intellectual property protection, trade facilitation, infrastructure and institutions, together with deeper regional integration have important impacts on global value chain integration in developing countries. This was the view of speakers at a recent event in Geneva.