Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Two panel discussions held at the recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) Public Forum addressed the challenge of modernising global trade rules for the digital age and the role the WTO could play in this process.
The 1994 World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has been a landmark pact in the IP world and beyond. Now on the 20th anniversary of its entry into force, former TRIPS negotiators and other experts have come out with a book recounting the remarkable set of circumstances and compromises that took place to bring this agreement into being.
Access to medicines and innovations was the subject of a panel organised at the World Trade Organization Public Forum last week. After 20 years of the WTO intellectual property agreement, panellists looked at the impact of the agreement on access to medicines, and in particular the use of its flexibilities. In addition, a delegate of India detailed the legal-political aspects of an upcoming WTO decision on disputes for harmful actions that do not technically violate any WTO rules.
Free trade agreements should include incentives for generic and biosimilar medicines, speakers said at a panel during the World Trade Organization Public Forum last week.
Among the many topics at last week’s World Trade Organization Public Forum were panels on o partnerships and on digital trade. This article takes a brief look at two of the panels that touched on intellectual property rights.
We are in the midst of a “mobile revolution” that may equal the industrial revolution, and a key contributor is industry research and development and innovation protected by intellectual property, says a new report.
KAMPALA, UGANDA - The pharmaceutical industry in the East African Community is approaching a higher level of production quality and manufacturing practices. To benefit the industry and increase access to medicines, stakeholders are working towards a united regulatory policy framework aimed at harmonising industrial, health and regulatory policies.
At a panel at the World Trade Organization organised by the United States Chamber of Commerce, proponents of strong intellectual property protection explained why this protection is key in international trade, even if some might consider the minimum standard set by the WTO IP rules might need an update.
The smartphone is one of the most ubiquitous inventions in contemporary life. Ask anyone from teenagers to senior citizens – in industrialized countries, as well as emerging markets – about the wireless ways of their life, and they will tell you this. But what is the economic impact of mobile? That is not as obvious, writes Antonio Varas.
The annual World Trade Organization Public Forum opened today with a plenary session on making trade work more inclusively. The Doha Round, agriculture, and environmental technologies were part of the conversation.