New WIPO Director’s Revised Budget On Track To Passage After Debate

[Editor’s Note: Final formal committee-level approval of the Program and Budget Committee recommendations took place on Friday morning.] By William New The powerful World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee on Thursday tacitly approved a new one-year budget funding…

WHO Members Slow To Bridge Disagreements At Pandemic Flu Meeting

By Kaitlin Mara Four days into one-week “critical” negotiations on pandemic influenza preparedness, World Health Organization members had yet to tackle areas of core disagreement and participants were expressing doubt as to whether consensus can be achieved by week’s end.…

Technology, IP Vital To Addressing Climate Change, UN Meeting Hears

By Kaitlin Mara Finding a balance between needed incentives for innovation and equally needed affordable access to new technology is necessary to combat ecological challenges, yet striking it may prove difficult as countries at the United Nations’ talks on climate…

Generic Drugmakers, Activists Praise Lamy; Gurry Defends ‘Respect’ For IP

By William New Generic pharmaceutical producers have grown in importance in recent years despite or because of intellectual property rights, and at their annual meeting this week in Geneva they attracted the leaders of the primary intergovernmental institutions engaged in…

Budget Debates Arise Again At WIPO; Development Fears Run High

By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization could be considered a financial stalwart of the United Nations system, self-funding and usually running large positive balances. But recent years have seen the rise in influence of developing countries at WIPO,…

An Alternative Proposal For Enhancing Developing Country Access To Patented Medicines

By Wagdy Sawahel for Intellectual Property Watch An intellectual property model intended to preserve the structure of patent protection while adding balance for developing countries has been proposed to provide incentives for innovators to contribute toward the alleviation of suffering…

Lamy Challenges Discontented WTO Members To Use TRIPS Public Health Review

By William New Confronted with longstanding assertions that World Trade Organization rules intended to bring greater access to medicines to poor countries are not working, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said Tuesday discontented members should use the annual review of…

Droits de propriété intellectuelle et organismes génétiquement modifiés : une combinaison fatale selon les activistes

Par Catherine Saez L’extension des brevets aux organismes génétiquement modifiés (OGM) et leur production dans de nombreux pays menacent les droits des agriculteurs et la biodiversité, la sécurité alimentaire dépendant de plus en plus d’une poignée d’entreprises transnationales de biotechnologie,…

Rapid Rise In African Anti-Counterfeiting Efforts Led By Developed Nations

By Nick Wadhams for Intellectual Property Watch NAIROBI, KENYA – Amid fears that huge quantities of counterfeit medicines and pesticides are pouring into Africa, the international law enforcement agency INTERPOL is leading the way to invest more effort and money…