Revelations Illustrate Aggressive CIA Hacking, Sloppy Security Of Smart Services

Thought about buying a smart phone, smart TV, smart car? – think twice. Wikileaks today (7 March) released over 8,000 documents illustrating hacking activities of the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA. In what has been described by some commentators as a bigger leak than the Snowden revelations about the National Security Agency in 2013, the whistleblower platform allowed a glimpse into the CIA hacking into smart TVs and smartphones and presented a list of zero day vulnerabilities found, bought and sometimes shared with colleagues in other agencies, including British colleagues. Wikileaks announced that today’s leak was the “Year Zero” tranche of the much bigger “Vault 7” project: more redacted details from the documents and much more documents will be published.

Main Recommendations Of UN High-Level Panel On Access To Medicines Presented At WTO

An event held at the World Trade Organization last week walked through key recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, including strategies for moving some of them forward.

EPO Sees Highest Patent Filings Ever; Chinese Applications Still Rising

The European Patent Office published its 2016 annual report today, showing an “unprecedented level of patent filings,” and underlining the growing number of patent applications from China. The top technical fields for applications included medical technology, digital communication, and pharmaceuticals.

Legal Swords Sharpened In Kenya-Manchester Cancer Drug Rights Dispute

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A dispute between Kenyan researchers and the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, over ownership of a cancer discovered after successful clinical trials in Kenya finally seems headed to courts.

A Review Of ‘Standard Essential Patents Within Global Networks – An Emerging Economies Perspective’ By Dieter Ernst

By Roya Ghafele, OxFirst - Dieter Ernst’s study is one of the few, if not the only one, to thoroughly examine the role, function and effects of Standard Essential Patents from a developing country’s perspective. As such, the study is a refreshing read, given that the discourse on Standard Essential Patents and the FRAND (fair reasonable and non-discriminatory) regime is pretty much driven from a developed country’s point of view.

Patent Data – The Modern Investor’s Crystal Ball

Sirena Rubinoff writes: What if there was a crystal ball that could tell you where and when to invest your money? It sounds like science fiction, but engineers at MIT have actually developed a formula that can predict future events in tech development. The formula is based on a combination of big data from patent applications and smart analytics which, when put together, can estimate how fast a technology is advancing.

UN Human Rights Council To Host Expert Panel On Medicines Access This Week

The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva this week will host a panel discussion among a notable range of experts on access to medicines and the controversial UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel report issued last September. The panel is expected to lead to a report sent on to the Human Rights Council for possible action next autumn.

Global Fund Names Interim Executive Director Starting In June

The Board of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has named Marijke Wijnroks of the Netherlands as interim executive director starting on 1 June until a new director can be selected. The international health financing facility this week decided to restart its director search from scratch after questions arose with the final two candidates to replace current Executive Director Mark Dybul, who will return to the United States at the end of his four-year term on 31 May.