Biotech Convention Pays Homage To IP, Pledges To Increase Access To Medicine

Intellectual property rights and access to medicines were on the agenda at the first day of a biotechnology industry group’s annual convention yesterday. The group held a panel on IP rights and also released a policy statement on access to medicine in developing countries. The director of the US Patent and Trademark Office commented positively on the initiative.

Health Initiative Proposes Rewarding Innovation On Impact Results; Some See Hurdles

An alternative initiative to promote access to medicine with a method mimicking market mechanisms means to create additional incentives for health innovation, authors of the proposal said yesterday. But other health actors have reservations.

A public event was organised yesterday to discuss how the Health Impact Fund (HIF) could fit within existing structures and what challenges it could face.

WIPO Traditional Knowledge Committee Opens With Hope For Text-Based Talks

Negotiators at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week will address longstanding efforts by many WIPO members to begin in earnest text-based negotiations for a tool to better protect traditional knowledge and genetic resources.

A Prescription For Failure — Health And IP In The Dominican Republic

In the United States, trade policy is generally considered an economic issue. But for developing countries like the Dominican Republic, it can be a matter of life and death, write Tanya Baytor and Patrick Griffith of Georgetown University Law Center.

Coordination Mechanism Adopted For WIPO Development Agenda Implementation

A mechanism to watch the continuing implementation of development-oriented principles into the World Intellectual Property Organization’s work has now been found. For many, the Development Agenda is the most important agreement in WIPO’s recent past, and the mechanism - which will monitor, assess and report on its implementation - was a critical area of importance in ensuring it reaches its full potential.

Negotiators Begin To Find Common Ground In WIPO IP Development Talks

A coordination mechanism and a project on transfer of technology will dominate much of the last day of the World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property, but with two new projects approved the group has already made progress this week, according to sources.

Global IP Enforcement Push Impacting Consumer Access, 2010 IP Watchlist Finds

The second edition of the Consumers International IP Watchlist has been published, with the conclusion that consumers are bearing collateral damage to the enforcement push by entertainment and media lobby groups encouraging stringent national legislations. Copyright laws and enforcement are changing, but mostly for the benefit of right holders, said the advocate group which encourages copyright exceptions.