Author: James Love

This week the WIPO Standing Committee is holding a meeting to consider a possible treaty for broadcasting organizations. KEI thought this treaty negotiation had been blocked by fundamental differences over the purposes and scope of the treaty in 2007, but in the past few years the US Copyright office asked to put the issue back on the SCCR agenda, and subsequently Francis Gurry and Ambassador Trevor Clarke from the WIPO Secretariat have pushed to reach a conclusion, and more recently South Africa, Mexico, Japan and some other countries are now quite active, in favor of a new treaty.

Continue Reading →

In a bid to generate sympathy for its defeat in the Supreme Court of India over efforts to evergreen patent protection for the cancer drug imatinib (trade names Gleevec or Glivec) in developing countries, Novartis has been making increasingly spectacular claims as regards its investments in the development of the drug. Continue Reading →

There is so much that one could say about today’s decision, it is hard to know where to start.

Continue Reading →

This is a copy of the negotiating text for the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), also referred to as the India/EU FTA. It does not include Article 6, which I assume concerns patents, or have any text for Article 9 on Geographical Indications. The text includes country positions. We are not certain of the date of this text. KEI has some commentary at /node/1692

Consolidated draft India-EU FTA (BTIA)

IPR chapter

Art. 1 – Definition [Agreed]

Continue Reading →

Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) comments
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Trade, March 13, 2013 Hearing on U.S.-India Trade Relations

Name: James Love
Organization: Knowledge Ecology International
Address: 1621 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20009
Phone Number: 1.202.332.2670
Contact E-mail Address: James.Love@KEIonline.Org
Title of Hearing: U.S.-India Trade Relations

Introduction

Continue Reading →

On March 13, 2013, the U.S. House of Representative held a hearing on U.S.-India Trade Relations. Among the several topics under discussion were “the issuance of compulsory licenses, patent revocations, and other policies on pharmaceuticals” in India.

Continue Reading →

As others have reported, the India Intellectual Property Appeals Board (IPAB) has upheld the compulsory license on the Bayer patents on the cancer drug sorafenib, sold under the trademark of Nexavar by Bayer.

Continue Reading →

KEI comment on the Medicines Patent Pool license and MoU with ViiV Healthcare
28 February 2013

FYI: James Love (james.love@keionline.org, +1.202.361.3040), Krista Cox (krista.cox@keionline.org, +1.202.332.2670) or Thiru Balasubramaniam (thiru@keionline.org).

The 27 February 2013 agreements between the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture of GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, and Shionogi will expand access to affordable pediatric formulas for HIV/AIDS.

Continue Reading →

On January 8, 2013, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued a joint statement on “remedies for standards-essential patents subject to voluntary F/RAND commitments. (Copy of statement here). Continue Reading →

WIPO is spending five days in a special session to work on the text for a treaty on copyright exceptions for persons who are blind or have other disabilities.

KEI has obtained a copy of the latest version as of Friday morning, which is attached below.

The first four days have been consumed with highly technical but important debates of the international rules for copyright exceptions. The US and the EU are demanding that all sorts of language be put into the treaty referring to a three step test to restrict the use of exceptions.

Continue Reading →