ACTA: the new institution
Submitted by James Love on 18. March 2010 - 11:06KEI has access to yet undisclosed sections of the negotiating ACTA text. The text is organized in 6 chapters. The longest is Chapter 2 on "legal framework for enforcement of intellectual property rights." The second longest is Chapter 5, on "Institutional Arrangements." In ten pages of text, the ACTA negotiators have set out a plan to create a new institution to administer, implement and modify ACTA. ACTA is seen as playing an important role that will rival in some ways WIPO or the WTO.
The Oversight Committee
EU proposes ACTA require criminal sanctions for inciting, aiding and abetting infringements
Submitted by James Love on 17. March 2010 - 15:19(Updated March 17, 2010, 12pm).
KEI has learned that the European Union has proposed language in the ACTA negotiations to require criminal penalties for "inciting, aiding and abetting" certain offenses, including "at least in cases of willful trademark counterfeiting and copyright or related rights piracy on a commercial scale."
The EU proposal is reported on a recent (but still secret) version of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Consolidated Text, and reads as follows:
[EU: ARTICLE 1. OFFENCE/CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENTS
PhRMA's asks regarding special 301, drug pricing and reimbursement
Submitted by KEI Staff on 17. March 2010 - 12:43Below are asks from the 2010 PhRMA submission to the USTR Special 301 list on the topic of drug pricing and reimbursement decisions, and described as 'Market Access Barriers.' In its assertions, PhRMA attack countries for government price negotiations, making use of reference pricing, the insufficient involvement of pharmaceutical companies in setting government pricing policies and the composition of drug formularies, among other things.
CHINA
Ari Emanuel: Did he mention lobbying the President or the Vice President?
Submitted by James Love on 15. March 2010 - 12:55See update at the end. ----------
Day after European Parliament votes against ACTA, Obama expresses support
Submitted by James Love on 12. March 2010 - 14:00- March 10, 2010. In the Guardian: Ari Emanuel, the co-chief executive of William Morris Endeavor, the biggest Hollywood talent agency, was among several executives attending a meeting in Abu Dhabi, calling for governments to get tough on illegal downloading.
Emanuel, the brother of US presidential adviser Rahm, said the industry was talking to the US government in a bid to introduce a "three strikes and you're out" law to govern illegal downloading.
633 to 13, EU Parliament votes to make ACTA public, and more sensitive to civil liberties and consumer protection
Submitted by James Love on 10. March 2010 - 12:53In a stunning 633 to 13 vote, the EU Parliament voted for a resolution on ACTA that addresses a wide range of criticisms that civil society groups have made of the process and substance.
The KEI statement on the EU vote follows:
Jeffrey Kindler rewarded by Pfizer for his influence with governments
Submitted by KEI Staff on 9. March 2010 - 14:42On July 28, 2006, Jeffrey Kindler replaced Hank McKinnell as CEO of Pfizer. That day the Pfizer stock price closed at $26.11. With the stock trading today at a little more than $17, it would seem that shareholders have lost a significant amount of their investment. Nonetheless, Kindler is doing well.
FOIA document: In 2007, US Ambassador Ralph Boyce was pleased that Abbott withdrew life saving drugs from market in Thailand
Submitted by James Love on 6. March 2010 - 17:26In 2007, Thailand was involved in a dispute over the granting of compulsory licenses on medicines, including the patents used for Kaletra, an Abbott drug used in the treatment of AIDS. Kaletra is the brand name for a fixed dose combination of lopinavir and ritonavir (LPV/r) -- two drugs invented at Abbott on an NIH grant. In 2007, LPV/r was the preferred combination for protease inhibitor regimes used to treat AIDS.
USTR pressures Taiwan on pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceuticals and medical devices
Submitted by James Love on 6. March 2010 - 9:26This from USTR's 2010 Trade Policy Agenda and 2009 Annual Report:
The USPTO-Pfizer collaboration to change India's laws on patents and test data
Submitted by Malini Aisola on 5. March 2010 - 19:10The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a joint program with Pfizer to fund and manage seminars in India on "misconceptions of evergreening" and "the importance of regulatory data protection and patent linkage." KEI has submitted a FOIA request to USPTO on this topic, and received a small installment of documents on Friday. Attached to this blog are 4 pages of documents that we received from two meetings held in Mumbai, India on September 9, 2009. Ten journalists and 15 NGOs attended the meetings.