Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Participants at a recent United Nations seminar on developing country production of essential medicines agreed that such a scenario should be possible but they disagreed on the means to get there. While there was disagreement…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The European Union has received support from Japan, Switzerland and the United States in its push to raise enforcement of intellectual property rights higher on the agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO). On the…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Following the rejection of a patent application for one of its medicines, Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has taken the “unprecedented action” of challenging India’s patent law in a high court, arguing that it is unconstitutional…
New Negotiators In Geneva: European Commission Expert on GIs, Indian Official on Biodiversity. Also, The World's Top 50 IP People, new names at WIPO and the NGOs, and more. In the IP-Watch People News.
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Developing countries say they will push their proposal on biodiversity and the European Union is sharply stepping up its call for enforcement, but otherwise the preliminary agenda of an upcoming World Trade Organization meeting on…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The implementation process of global intellectual property rules was debated at a recent World Trade Organization public forum, which focused on the overall future of the organisation. According to the WTO, the 25-26 September forum…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A senior United States health official in Washington is urging the head of the World Health Organization to withdraw a WHO-sponsored publication that is critical of US trade policy, charging possible organisational incompetence and calling…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A second attempt in Kenya to restrict intellectual property flexibilities meant to safeguard access to medicines has most likely been defeated, largely due to opposition from an interagency task force and civil society groups, local…
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced on 7 August a review of a key programme offering duty-free access for products exported by developing countries to the US market. The review will look at whether key trading partners still should be…
After some five years of negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) free-trade talks were halted today as ministers of key countries left the negotiating table. But key intellectual property issues will be kept on the table for whenever they return,…
This week’s Group of Eight (G8) meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia highlighted piracy and counterfeiting as one area in which G8 is determined to step up its effort, but it also made commitments to improve access to medicines for infectious…
In a new European Union communication to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the ongoing agriculture negotiations, the EU has moved its call for higher intellectual property rights protection for product names deriving from geographical locations to the top of…