Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The first global target on noncommunicable diseases has been gavelled through a World Health Assembly meeting. Member states have decided on a voluntary global target in reducing overall mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease.
The latest available documents of the closed-door meeting addressing recommendations on ways to finance neglected diseases largely afflicting developing countries show progress heading into this afternoon's session. They reflect efforts to agree on how to take the process forward, including agreement reached last night on putting the issue to regional groups later this year.
On the last day of the weeklong meeting of the WIPO committee on the law of patents, discussions are ongoing to find consensus on the future work of the committee. The week has been a theatre of strong stances dividing developed and developing countries on areas such as patents on health, patent flexibilities and the quality of patents.
A set of documents in use by today's closed-door negotiations on research and development for neglected diseases at the World Health Assembly lay out the core differences between WHO members. Negotiations are expected to last into the night as members try to agree on how to take forward recommendations from a key report - including to negotiate a binding convention on R&D for diseases left behind in the marketplace.
The chair of the World Intellectual Property Organization patent committee today circulated informal suggestions on ways forward for this week's wide-ranging committee agenda.
Members of the World Health Organization tonight will consider a draft decision on how the organisation will address the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol.
The United States and China will hold early next week what is becoming the largest bilateral programme between their courts in the area of intellectual property adjudication. Set to gather more than a thousand participants, the discussions will largely revolve around patent litigation, according to a top US judge.
CIOPORA, an international association of plant breeders, held its annual meeting recently with a focus on novelties in plant patents introduced by the America Invents Act, to become effective on 16 March 2013.
A drafting group has embarked on the task of combining four different proposals on the table at the annual World Health Assembly aimed at financing research and development for neglected diseases mostly afflicting poorer populations.
Members of the World Health Organization at their annual meeting tomorrow will address proposals for ways to finance research and development for diseases which afflict mainly developing countries but for which there are not lucrative markets.