The 19th session of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore is meeting this week in Geneva (18-22 July 2011) to make a a decision on a possible international legal instrument (or instruments) to protect genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore. At the discussions of future work on 19 July 2011, the United States (Albert Tramposch, USPTO) asked the WIPO Legal Counsel (Edward Kwakwa) the following question.
From 27 June to 30 June 2011, representatives from the like minded group of countries including Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, and Zimbabwe met in Bali, Indonesia to discuss the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore. This group submitted a joint recommendation to the WIPO secretariat (WIPO/GRTKF/IC/19/8) requesting the following:
On 8 July 2011, the WHO Consultative Expert Working Group on R&D Financing and Coordination (CEWG) held an open session to brief the public on their preliminary assessments and recommendations.
To access the slide presentation presented by the Chair (John Arne Røttingen, Norway) and Vice-Chair (Claudia Inês Chamas, Brazil), please click on the following link: http://www.who.int/phi/news/Open_Session_July_v3.pdf
On 14 November 2001, at its Ministerial in Doha, Qatar, the World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and public health. Exactly 10 years to the date, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and the South Centre have are co-hosting a side event at WIPO to discuss the following questions:
How have WTO members implemented paragraphs 4, 6 and 7 of the Doha Declaration? What changes are needed to achieve access to medicine for all? Continue Reading →
On 28 June 2011, Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), sent out Circular note 7998 requesting Member States and Observers to the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) to submit comments on the the proposal by Canada and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Quality of Patents, including Opposition Systems and the proposal by South Africa on behalf of the African Group and the Development Group on Continue Reading →
In response to the WHO Consultative Expert Working Group on R&D Financing’s (CEWG) calls for submissions, 21 proposals were submitted to the CEWG in June 2011 for consideration by the CEWG at their second meeting (7-8 July 2011).
The general link to the WHO CEWG submissions page can be found here: http://www.who.int/phi/news/cewg_submissions/en/index.html
Reproduced below from the WHO CEWG page are links to all the proposals in the order they appear on the WHO page.
Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (CEWG)
It is with much pleasure that Brazil notes that we started this second week of the XXII SCCR with a text on the table that is co-sponsored by Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, México, Paraguay, and the United States and that is also supported by the EU.
On 16 June 2011, Pablo Lecuona delivered the following intervention on behalf of Intervention of Unión Latinoamericana de Ciegos at SCCR 22.
Gracias señor presidente.
Lo felicito ante todo por su elección al frente de este comité. hablo en Nombre de la Unión latinoamericana de Ciegos que reúne a las organizaciones de ciegos de los 19 países de América latina.
