Public Health Considerations Should Guide Patent Examination, Paper Argues
Patent offices should align their work in support of national health and medicines policies when carrying out the examination of patents, a new South Centre paper argues.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Northern Tanzania Maasai Land Loss Threatens Indigenous Knowledge
NAIROBI, Kenya - After a five year gruelling court battle, the indigenous Maasai community in Northern Tanzania has lost the right to its traditional land after the High Court handed it to a US-based tourism company in a court ruling on 27 October.
Well-Designed IP Systems Can Benefit Africa, Leaders Say; WIPO Director Urges Action
DAKAR, Senegal -- As Africa is emerging to become a centre of economic growth, strong and well-developed national intellectual property systems can help the continent unlock its citizens’ creativity and innovation and further boost economic growth, World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry said today in Dakar, the Senegalese capital where the African Ministerial Conference kicked off. Gurry was joined by top officials from a number of African nations.
UN Works Through Issues Of A Changed Internet
Most nations in the world agree that all aspects of society now depend on the internet. But this year’s process of reviewing the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is showing how many challenges to the internet have arisen and how far apart nations are on the ways to address them.
17 Year Exemption From Pharmaceutical Patents Agreed At WTO – TWN
From Third World Network: London, 3 Nov (Sangeeta Shashikant) The United States and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the World Trade Organization have reached agreement ad referendum on a pharmaceutical patent exemption for a duration of 17 years, according to trade diplomats.
Russia To Better Protect IP Of Its Innovative Companies Abroad
The Russian government is considering a package of measures aimed at better protecting intellectual property of Russian innovative companies abroad, according to an official spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Communications.
Expert: As A UN Agency, WIPO Has Role To Play On Neglected Diseases
According to a prominent researcher in the field of neglected tropical diseases, the World Intellectual Property Organization has a prominent role to play in addressing the lack of research and development for neglected diseases.
Panellists: Price Is Main Barrier To Medicines Access In Rich And Poor Countries
A joint symposium of the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization and World Intellectual Property Organization this week included several panels on how trade, public health and intellectual property could positively interact to increase access to medicines.
India, US Take Stock Of Work On IP; To Boost Copyright, Trade Secrets
The trade ministers of the United States and India yesterday reviewed work from the past year on a full range of intellectual property issues and made new commitments, as part of their larger bilateral trade policy forum. Among the issues was a commitment to work for access to medicines, increase work on trade secrets, and deepen copyright cooperation in acknowledgement of the two biggest entertainment industries in the world.
High-Level Negotiations On LDC Pharma IP Waiver Extension At WTO
Negotiations have been ongoing at the World Trade Organization over the extension of a waiver allowing least-developed countries not to grant or enforce intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products.