South-South Collaboration Needs Promotion, Better Reach, UNCTAD Report Says

South-South trade and investment is growing and could lead to greater technology sharing but some countries are left out, particularly least developed countries, due to lack of technological capacity, according to a new United Nations report that also looked at intellectual property in the context of the rising South-South collaboration. Separately, UNCTAD also has begun consultations on joint work with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Pharma Outlook: Don’t Yield On IP, Work On Trust-Building, Call For Global Cooperation

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) held its 26th assembly this week and elected its new president. He presented the future orientation of the industry group, saying will work on trust-building and needs predictability in the regulatory process, policies that sustain and encourage innovation, and a strong intellectual property system, he said.

WIPO-Sponsored Neglected Diseases Consortium Celebrates Successful First Year

This week, members of a consortium sponsored by the World Intellectual Property Organization to facilitate research in neglected diseases celebrated the first anniversary of the initiative and claimed an expanding membership and several research collaborations or agreements.

UPOV Council To Formalise Access To Documents; Civil Society Seeks Greater Participation

Members of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) meet this week for their annual Council and a series of preparatory meetings. Meanwhile, civil society keeps pushing for greater participation.

Petition Urges Delay, Discussion Of Pan-African IP Organization

A new petition circulating worldwide urges the delay of a suddenly fast-moving proposal to create a Pan-African Intellectual Property Organization (PAIPO). The delay effort – which seeks an open discussion of the proposal to make it more tailored to local African needs - comes just weeks before African Union representatives meet to consider its adoption.

In Search of Relevance, Not Solutions: The Truth About ITU’s ‘Patent Roundtable’

Meetings at UN agencies in Geneva are not often mainstream news - but given the high profile nature of legal disputes about smartphone and tablet technology taking place around the world, a meeting to discuss an arcane area of patent policy - the ITU Patent Roundtable - was widely covered, as it brought together some of the titans of the mobile and internet industry plus government regulators and standards bodies.

WHO Member States Hammering Out Details On Non-Communicable Diseases

In a single voice, public health authorities spoke out about the need to take on the world’s heaviest disease burdens including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases. Now negotiations are narrowing in on the specifics of how to prevent and control these diseases, and achieving agreement on some commitments, including those related to medicine availability, could prove more challenging.

Governments Weigh Options On New Top-Level Domains At ICANN

Governments have been considering their options with regard to intervening against applications for new generic top level domains, which are currently being processed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).