EU-MERCOSUR FTA Puts At Risk Access To Medicines In Brazil, New Impact Assessment Study Finds

The European Union (EU) is currently negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the four founding members of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), which comprises a chapter on intellectual property rights (IPR). A new round of negotiations is taking place from November 29th to December 8th in Brussels[1]. Word is that they aim to announce the closure of the agreement at the next World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference that will be held from 10-13 of December in Buenos Aires and the clock is ticking to close all the chapters before that. The authors have conducted a study that shows the adoption of the measures proposed by the EU could put the sustainability of access to health policies in Brazil at risk, as they could sharply increase public expenditures on medicines.

ARIPO Adopts Plant Variety Regulations, As Farmers Advocacy Groups Raise Concern

KAMPALA, Uganda -- The Forty-first Session of the Administrative Council of African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) held this month adopted the Regulations for the Implementation of the Arusha Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, amidst protest from civil society organisations and farmer representatives.

WTO General Council Agrees To 2-Year Extension For TRIPS Health Amendment Acceptance

The World Trade Organization General Council today agreed to a two-year extension for countries to adopt an amendment to the agency's intellectual property agreement intended to help small economies get affordable medical products. But a decision on non-violation complaints will be left to the December WTO ministerial in Buenos Aires.

Retransmissions Of TV Shows From Cloud Services Need Copyright Owner’s Consent, EU High Court Rules

VCAST, a UK company that makes available to its customers internet retransmissions of Italian television programmes stored in the cloud, must obtain right holders’ consent first, the Court of Justice of European Union (CJEU) ruled on 29 November.

USPTO Director Nominee And IP “Evangelist” Iancu Could Get Committee Approval By January

President Trump's nominee to be the next director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Andrei Iancu, could receive Senate committee approval by the holidays if things line up just right. If appointed, he told a nomination hearing today that he would "evangelize" the IP system and make possible reform of the patent review process a high priority.

UN General Assembly Committee Adopts Resolution On SciTech For Development With Nod To IP Rights

A committee of the United Nations General Assembly this week adopted a resolution highlighting the importance of - and setting out member state tasks for - growing science and technology, including expansion of intellectual property rights and innovation tailored to countries' development strategies.

European Commission Announces Guidance On Copyright Enforcement, SEP Licensing

The European Commission today announced plans to ratchet up the fight against counterfeiting and piracy, and to introduce more clarity in licensing standard-essential patents (SEPs). The first involves guidance on the 2004 EU directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRED); the second recommendations for making the relationship between patent owners and technology users more “balanced and efficient.”

Must All Foreigners Online Comply With US Copyright Law? (Part 1 of 2)

US copyright law is supposed to apply only within US borders, not to actions done in Poland. But when a company in Poland streamed copyrighted TV shows into the US, that infringed US copyrights, according to a US trial court. This decision will be upheld on appeal, experts widely expect. Such an appellate decision, however, could expand the reach of US copyright law to a problematic extent. It will be tricky to find infringement in this case without also extending US copyright law to any online content posted anywhere on the globe.

WHO Issues Two Reports Detailing Global Problem Of Substandard And Falsified Medicines

The World Health Organization today issued two substantive reports on the problem of substandard and falsified medicines around the world, finding among other things that an estimated one in 10 medical products in low and middle income countries is either substandard or falsified.

INTA Paper On Brexit Calls For Minimal Disruption, Strong IP Protection

The International Trademark Association (INTA) today issued a position paper calling for "minimal disruption" and strong intellectual property rights protection as the negotiations proceed on the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, known as Brexit. The paper lists core principles and specific recommendations related to IP for both the UK and the EU.