Gary Locke and Microsoft
The U.S. Department of Commerce has been given a high profile role in intellectual property policies in the Obama Administration. The Department is headed by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke. Locke is the best known as the former two term governor of the State of Washington. After leaving the government, he has also been a lawyer and consultant, including to Microsoft. Here are a few data points on that relationship.
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Part 1: Notes on the August 25, 2010 version of the ACTA consolidated textKEI has obtained a copy of the August 25, 2010 version of the ACTA consolidated negotiating text. This is Part 1 of our initial notes on the document. (Part 2 is available here.) (revised September 9, 2010) PreambleThe preamble in the August, 25, 2010 text includes 10 paragraphs, of which only 3 do not have brackets. Testinghttp://goo.gl/p6a15d https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ElI6rxLsq1SAlB69bsvti1_sK6A7W7pXP6Zmn7WM_lc/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000 Continue Reading Lunch with the ACTA negotiators, August 17, 2010On Tuesday, August 17, 2010, USTR organized a lunch between ACTA negotiators and civil society NGOs. There was not much notice. We received our invite to the lunch last Thursday. Representatives from KEI, Public Citizen, Oxfam, Public Knowledge and the American University program on intellectual property attended the event. The US Orphan Drug Tax CreditFrom the FDA page on the Orphan Drug Tax Credit. Incentives TAX CREDIT (See Footnote 1 below) FOR TESTING EXPENSES FOR DRUGS FOR RARE DISEASES OR CONDITIONS Introduction Section 45C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 allows a credit… Continue Reading Notes and data points for prices of orphan productsFebruary 22, 2010., Matthew Herper, “The World’s Most Expensive Drugs,” Forbes. Genzyme’s web page on the cost of treatment. Some data points on Fabrazyme prices. 2004 prices for Replagal 2001 prices for Cerezyme. Myozyme/Lumizyme A 2007 Canadian analysis of (50… Continue Reading Written submission U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Hearing on Treating Rare and Neglected Pediatric Diseases: Promoting the Development of New Treatments and Cures
Written submission U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Hearing on Treating Rare and Neglected Pediatric Diseases: Promoting the Development of New Treatments and Cures, On the topic of Direct funding, subsidies and incentives for the development… Continue Reading Luc Devigne’s role in ACTA negotiationsOn Saturday, July 17, 2010, I said on twitter, “Apparently Luc Devigne is out as head #acta negotiator for EU.” There were a number of sources for this inside the European Union and also among other trade bodies or governments following or participating in the ACTA negotiations. This was re-tweeted extensively, and resulted in various commentary and reporting on LucDevigne’s rule in ACTA, including speculation on the reasons for the change. ACTA’s Article 2.3, on “Other Remedies”: the July 1, 2010 textArticle 2.3 of the July 1, 2010 version of the ACTA text provides for “Other Remedies” for infringement. The Japan, Switzerland and EU versions of the text appear to be overreaching, including for example by directly conflicting with explicit TRIPS provisions and provisions in the laws of ACTA negotiating countries, including several European Countries. ACTA’s Article 2.2.1, on damages:the July 1, 2010 textThe July 1, 2010 ACTA text includes several provisions that would set global norms for damages, including most importantly, on pages 6 and 7, Article 2.2 on Damages. Also relevant are the provisions in Article 2.X on General Obligations with Respect to Enforcement, on page 5. |