Attached below are two PDF files that were used in my presentation today at the 1st meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO). I did not following the text that closely. The WHO is making a video of all of the presentations, which will be made available later. Continue Reading
According to stories in the German and French press (links below), Tilman Lueder will be leaving his position as the head of union for copyright for the European Commission, for a new EC job in China. [The FT confirms Tilman is leaving, but suggests he will have a different assignment]. Tilman will reportedly be replaced by Maria Martin-Prat. Continue Reading
USTR has rejected a KEI FOIA request for a Congressional Research Service study of ACTA that was done for Senate Ron Wyden. Senator Wyden shared the report with USTR. USTR acknowledges that it has possession of the document, but asserts it does not have control. Public Citizen has agreed to represent KEI in an appeal of the decision. Our administrative appeal was filed today.
March 23, 2011
FOIA Appeals Committee
Office of the Untied States Trade Representative
1724 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20508Re: Freedom of Information Act Appeal
(Following discussions with Ed Silverman of Pharmalot, this blog was updated at 12 pm on March 22, to add some suggestions as to how to reform the Orphan Drug Act).
This note concerns an increase in the price of hydroxyprogesterone caproate, from $10 to $20 per dose to $1,500 per dose. (Several injections are needed). Long used off label to prevent premature births, the drug will be sold by KV Pharmaceuticals, under a newly granted right under a statutory monopoly, at 150 times the price of the generic product using the trade name Makena.
Francisco SOSA WAGNER, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Spain, has submitted a question to the European Commission on the WIPO negotiations for a treaty for persons who are blind or have other disabilities.
David Hammerstein has provided the following translation into English:
Continue Reading
The USPTO is considering a pilot program to consider the benefits of providing a voucher for certain accelerated reviews of patent applications, as a reward for licensing patents for humanitarian uses. On March 2, 2011, Anne Guha provided a very useful summary of public comments on the proposal, which is available here: https://www.keionline.org/node/1074
On March 2, 2011, Michel Barnier, the EC Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, wrote to Dan Pescod of the European Blind Union, to defend the European Commission decision to back a soft alternative to a treaty at WIPO. (More context, including the text of all of the proposals at WIPO, here. Continue Reading
Apparently it is now down to seven final candidates to be the new US Register of Copyrights. These include two employees of the Copyright Office (Carson and Kasunic), a lawyer in private practice (Fries), a full time professor (Brauneis), a professor/USPTO negotiator (Hughes), a trade negotiator (McCoy), and a representative of a trade association (Perlmutter). By gender, the finalists are two women, and five men.
They are, in alphabetical order:
Robert Brauneis
Continue Reading
On February 26, 2011, the World Blind Union issued a statement announcing it would “suspend participation in the WIPO Stakeholder Platform and EU Stakeholder Dialogue projects, pending agreement at WIPO on a proper binding legal framework.” [See full statement below]. The WBU statement is expected to dramatically change the environment for considering a new WIPO treaty for persons who are blind or have other disabilities.
Congressional Research Service reports are prepared in response to requests from members of congress. For decades, right to know groups have been asking that they be available online. The CRS describes itself as follows: