On Monday, 3 October 2016, Chile delivered the following opening statement on behalf of the Group of Latin and the Caribbean Group (GRULAC) at the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) General Assembly.
In relation to copyright limitations and exceptions, GRULAC noted:
On September 10, 2015, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), wrote to USTR expressing alarm at the European Union support of an indefinite extension of a WTO waiver of obligations to grant patents on pharmaceuticals for UN defined least developed countries (LDCs). In 2015, there were 954 million persons living in LDCs, with a per capita income of $964, according to the World Bank. The EU had aligned itself with health advocates trying to protect the bottom billion access to life saving medicines.
On 30 June 2016, the 24th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) agreed to an ambitious work program on patents and health, exceptions and limitations to patent rights, quality of patents, transfer of technology and confidentiality of communications between clients and their patent advisors.
On patents and health, the Committee agreed to the following:
*(The author thanks Mirza Alas and Alexandre Gajardo for their notes of the 2nd round of informal consultations held on 22 June 2016 and Sophia Simon for transcribing the statements delegations made during the plenary discussions held on 1 July 2016.)
On Wednesday morning, 29 June 2016, Nigeria, on behalf of the African Group, presented a revised proposal (SCP/24/4) for a WIPO work program on Patents and Health at the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP). The African Group proposal is a welcome breath of fresh air in the patent committee; the proposal aims to make WIPO more responsive to recent developments including: 1) “Challenges to public health …. Continue Reading
29 June 2016
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (24th session)Statement of Knowledge Ecology International: Patents and Health
SCP24: KEI statement on exceptions and limitations to patent rights
SCP24
27 June 2016
KEI statement on exceptions and limitations to patent rights
In relation to limitations and exceptions, we recall Brazil’s prescient submission, document SCP/14/7 (tabled in January 2010) which called attention to the lack of policy coherence in a world where in certain international fora, countries endorse the use of compulsory licensing to promote access to medicines for all, and in separate fora, criticize developing countries for actually considering or issuing such compulsory licenses.
Human Rights Council heats up during informal talks on the primacy of human rights over international trade and IP regimes
At the 32nd session (13 June 2016 – 1 July 2016) of the Human Rights Council, a bloc of countries known as the the Core Group (Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand) have tabled a resolution on access to medicines “premised on the primacy of human rights over international trade, investment and intellectual property regimes.” The draft resolution complements the work of the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines in reviewing and assessing “proposals and recommend solutions for remedying the policy incoherence between the justifiable rights of inven Continue Reading
US proposal to seek a “better understanding” of Switzerland’s implementation of the Nagoya Protocol receives chilly reception
*The author thanks Professor Marc Perlman (Brown University) for his comprehensive notes on the IGC deliberations of 3 June 2016.
WIPO IGC30: Clean and track-changed version of Facilitators’ text on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources
In October 2015 the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) renewed the mandate of the the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (GRTKF):