Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A new initiative by the World Summit Award (WSA) initiative seeks to use its global multistakeholder network to push forward personal data ownership and big data issues at UN discussions. At an open discussion, the WSA invited participants to share views on issues with the current system of data use, the need for permission-based access, and steps for further action.
Whether countries can bring intellectual property complaints against each other under the World Trade Organization even if they don’t violate WTO rules was a topic of debate this week, but could not be resolved.
In a country with over 35 million people, Uganda’s economy is based on agriculture. Over 80 percent of the country’s workforce is employed in the sector, contributing up to 23 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Governments must assert the human right to health and take action against the massive rise in obesity globally, brought about by the widespread availability and pervasive marketing of unhealthy “junk” foods, Anand Grover, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, urged today.
The United States confirmed its opposition to an indefinite extension of a moratorium shielding the World Trade Organization agreement on intellectual property from non-violation complaints through a paper presented to WTO members meeting today.
LAUSANNE - Community-driven innovation and technologies could be a solution for developing essential technologies to achieve sustainable development, according to a range of expert panels at a recent event. And in some cases, they already are.
The Geneva-based Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) announced yesterday that the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) became its seventy-second member.
The Patent Cooperation Treaty is a cornerstone of the World Intellectual Property Organization and provides its main source of revenue. This week, a working group is gathered to explore proposed amendments to the treaty regulations, including fee reductions for developing countries, small businesses and non-profits.
LAUSANNE - Using their own experiences, a panel of technology industry representatives last week identified factors that could accelerate technology flows to developing countries.
LYON, France - At the Biovision life science forum looking into translating innovation into health-related solutions last week, a panel of speakers shared their experience about the global access to vaccines. Although vaccination coverage is on the rise and intellectual property has not been a major concern in the past decade for vaccines, patents may well become a barrier in the future, panellists said.