Original news and analysis on international IP policy
At the close of a WIPO meeting to advance a text to become a potential treaty to protect traditional knowledge, some countries found that the results of the session were somewhat disappointing, although some progress had been achieved.
The High Court of Kenya yesterday ruled that the country's 2008 Anti-Counterfeit Act was too broad and could interfere with the flow of legal generic medicines to patients, leading the UNAIDS organisation to issue a statement praising the decision. It also said intellectual property rights are not more important than life and health, according to UNAIDS.
An international convention on research and development for neglected diseases has never been so closely within reach. A World Health Organization expert group is recommending the implementation of a legally binding instrument to secure new sources of funding to spur health research in areas where the current system has failed.
The US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Monday re-issued a request for proposals to manage the sensitive IANA contract. IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority function, includes the management of the central root zone of the internet domain name system, the allocation of internet protocol addresses to the Regional Internet Registries and other core parts of the internet infrastructure.
From the outset of a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting to advance a potential treaty text on the protection of traditional knowledge, discussions on draft articles of the possible treaty confirmed divergence of views, notably between developed and developing countries.
The rapporteur of the lead committee of the European Parliament on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, David Martin, today published his draft recommendation on the highly controversial agreement. If the International Trade Committee agrees on the draft, the plenary will be asked to state that it "declines to consent to conclusion of the agreement."
Executive Director Ellen 't Hoen is departing the Medicines Patent Pool, the cutting edge UN spin-off project that works to lower prices on and stimulate new development of HIV medicines and other products through negotiating voluntary licence agreements. According to a release, 't Hoen has fulfilled the mission of guiding the organisation from a startup onto "firm footing" and has informed the Board that she will leave on 1 May.
Pressure is growing in Europe for open, free access to research results, particularly if they are publicly funded. The European Commission (EC) said this week it will propose a plan for open access soon, while the Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK are cracking down on researchers who don't comply with their policies.
Rapporteurs for three committees of the European Parliament (Legal, Industry and Trade, and International Trade) have tabled reports or announced what they will propose on the plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). And the Group of 8 may have signalled a shift to a narrower approach on intellectual property rights at its meeting last week.
Country delegates will try to make progress on a treaty text to protect traditional knowledge from misappropriation at the World Intellectual Property Organization next week. The hope of many is to bring it far enough for the annual members’ meeting in October to schedule a high-level treaty negotiation next year.