U.S. general statement at 2009 WIPO GA
The following is the statement that the United States asked be included in the record for Agenda item 5 (General Statements) of the 2009 WIPO General Assembly.
Assemblies of the Member States
September 22 to October 1, 2009
AGENDA ITEM 5: General Statements
BACKGROUND:
WIPO GA, September 23, 2009
This is a semi-live blog that will be edited during the day.
It’s Wed, September 23rd, and WIPO is winding up a relatively boring two days of a high level Ministerial segment. Many delegates felt this was poorly organized, with notices going out fairly late, and not much preliminary work or focus. Tomorrow begins the more substantive agenda.
2009 WIPO General Assembly begins
Every year at the end of September, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) holds a General Assembly (GA). The GA hears reports from all WIPO committees, approves budgets and top staff appointments, and sets the agenda for the next year. This year’s GA started today, with a large number of patent and copyright office heads, trade negotiators and NGOs in attendance.
The Right to Development Criteria, applied to TDR and the Global Fund
For several years, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) has been working on mechanisms to implement a 1986 UN Resolution on the “Right to Development.” To this end, the HRC has created a Working Group on the Right to Development, and a High Level Task Force On The Implementation Of The Right To Development.
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This note concerns two areas of policy concerning humanitarian uses of patents. (1), a recommended exception to patent rights for humanitarian uses, and (2), the licensing of patents for humanitarian uses. Both examples focus on access to essential medical technologies.… Continue Reading
Obama Administration role in the regulation of prices for medicine and medical devices in Japan
On July 6, 2009, a report of the the U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative was presented to President Obama and Prime Minister Aso of Japan. The report provides an insight into the degree that the U.S. government tries to influence prices for medicines and medical devices in foreign markets. Here, as in other foreign markets, the U.S. government seeks to raise prices, and to give industry an even greater role in setting the prices for their products.
NYT: PhRMA to support Baucus version of health bill
According to a report by Duff Wilson in the Sunday New York Times, Much of PhRMA’s $150 million in advertising will be spent pushing Senator Baucus’s version of the health “reform” legislation.
USTR’s system of NDAs to provide private sector access to ACTA position
USTR has a system I was not that familiar with. For documents the public can’t see, USTR provides access under an NDA to private sector “experts” they want to consult. On Friday I was told by USTR:
“We’ve consulted with an array of experts from various IP and tech industries and associations and NGOs in the process of deliberation regarding a US proposal on one section of the agreement.”
Roll Call on Biogenerics
James K. Glassman and I published an article on biogenerics today in Roll Call. Continue Reading
Terms of Protection for Copyright and Related Rights in multilateral treaties
To provide some context to discussions on the term of protection for copyright and related rights, the following note sumarizes on the basic provisions in various multilateral copyright and related rights treaties, on the topics of minimum terms and formalities. … Continue Reading