WTO TRIPS Council: Intervention of India on the Paragraph 6 mechanism
On 10 October 2013, India delivered the following intervention at the WTO TRIPS Council’s annual review of the paragraph 6 system.
Para 6 MechanismWTO TRIPS Council: Venezuelan intervention on intellectual property and sports
At the October 2013 WTO TRIPS Council, Venezuela delivered the following intervention on intellectual property and sports noting that the WTO should not duplicate WIPO negotiations on a possible treaty for the protection on broadcasting organizations.
WTO TRIPS Council: Intervention of India on Article 66.2
On Thursday, 10 October 2013, India delivered this intervention on Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement mandates developed country members of the WTO to “provide incentives to enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least-developed country Members in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base.”
Intervention on Art 66.2US signs Marrakesh treaty for the blind
USPTO has confirmed that on October 2, 2013, the United States has signed the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled. The U.S. signing, which was not accompanied by a press release, took place on the last day of the WIPO General Assembly, and one day after the United States government began to shut down non-essential operations as a consequence of disputes over the Affordable Care Act.
Congress asked to hold hearings on NIH failure to address abuses of government financed medical inventions
We sent this letter to the Hill today.
October 8, 2013
Dear Senators Reid and McConnell, Representatives Boehner and Pelosi,
We are writing to ask that Congress hold a hearing on the failure of the NIH to exercise its authority to protect the public from abuses in federally funded inventions.
Since the passage of the BayhDole Act in 1980, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has never granted a petition to “march in” to permit third parties to use patents invented on federally funded research in response to abuses of the patent rights.
EPO and OHIM publish misleading report on intellectual property rights intensive industries in EU economy
In 2012 the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a study titled “Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus” which estimated the number of jobs if various “IP intensive” industries. The study was immediately panned by critics for its broad definitions — grocery stores were the top “ip intensive industry” in the United States, but it became a source of go-to-statistics for every PhRMA and publisher lobby group pushing new privileges and subsidies. (Commentary here: /node/1432)