Month: March 2016

Congressman Doggett Voices Support for KEI/UACT Petition to NIH on Xtandi

Posted on by Zack Struver

On Monday, March 7, 2016, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, issued a statement in support of the recent Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment (UACT) request that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) authorize the generic production of an expensive prostate cancer drug in order to curb an excessive and discriminatory price in the United States.

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TRIPS Council March 2016: India reiterates support for de-linkage and references UN High Level Panel on Access to Medicines

Posted on by Thiru

In early March 2016, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) TRIPS Council discussed “Intellectual Property and Innovation: Education and Diffusion”. The following delegations co-sponsored discussion of this item on Education and Diffusion – Australia, European Union, Switzerland, United States, Japan, Singapore, Peru, Russian Federation, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong China.

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2016: Did Army do analysis to determine if public is better off with exclusive license to patent?

Posted on by James Love

We sent this brief note to the Army today regarding this federal register note: https://federalregister.gov/a/2016-04494


From: Jamie Love
Date: Sat, Mar 5, 2016
To: Phoebe.E.Lenear@usace.army.mil
Subject: Digital Optical Method patents

I am writing about the notice of intent for an exclusive license to patents on the Digital Optical Method (DOMTM ), United States Patent No. 7,495,767.

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KEI comments to the Senate Finance Committee Report on the Price of Sovaldi

Posted on by James Love

On March 4, 2016, KEI provided comments to the US Senate Committee on Finance on a report prepared by staff for Senators Grassley and Wyden that was issued by the committee on December 2015, titled “The Price of Sovaldi and Its Impact on the U.S. Health Care System.” Senators Grassley and Wyden asked the public to comment on various issues raised in the report. The comments we filed on March 4 included three major sections.

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KEI Comments to U.S. Copyright Office on Section 1201

Posted on by Andrew Goldman

On March 3, 2016, KEI filed a comment with the U.S. Copyright Office in Docket No. 2015-8, regarding 17 U.S.C. § 1201.

The comment made specific recommendations regarding changes to the rulemaking procedure, the anti-trafficking provisions, and permanent exemptions, and also suggested requiring a registration and application process, as well as payment of a fee, for the DRM/TPM seeking legal protection under the law.

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11 February 2016: 5 groups express concerns over WIPO statements relating to UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

Posted on by Thiru

On Thursday, 11 February 2016, five groups including Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), Oxfam, Stop AIDS, Third World Network (TWN) and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) sent a letter to Dr. Francis Gurry, Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) highlighting our concerns with statements expressed by WIPO relating to the United Nations Secretary ­General’s High-­Level Panel on Access to Medicines (HLP). To date, we have yet to hear any formal response from WIPO. Continue Reading →

Colombia takes an important step in defining the public interest in compulsory licensing case

Posted on by James Love

(More on Colombia here: /colombia)

Andrea Carolina Reyes Rojas informs us that a committee appointed to consider a request for a compulsory license on the leukemia drug Imatinib has decided that there are public interest reasons to do so.

A copy of the decision is available here. Andrew Goldman shares some thoughts and context here.

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Colombia Technical Committee Recommends Declaration that a Compulsory License on Imatinib (Gleevec) Would Be in Public Interest

Posted on by Andrew Goldman

(More on Colombia here: /colombia)

In Colombia, a technical committee has issued a recommendation that a declaration be made that a compulsory license on imatinib (Gleevec) would be in the public interest. Under Colombian law, this is an important intermediary step prior to the actual grant of a compulsory license.

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KEI submissions to the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicine

Posted on by James Love

Attached below are the four submissions for which KEI was the lead author to the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel (HLP) on Access to Medicine.

  1. “The Need for Global Negotiations on Agreements to Fund R&D within the Context of a Progressive De-linking of R&D Costs from Product Prices”. Supported by 12 organizations; 1 individual; 3 Members of European Parliament.
  2. “Increasing the Transparency of Markets for Drugs, Vaccines, Diagnostics and other Medical Technologies”. Supported by 17 organizations; 2 individuals; 3 Members of European Parliament.

    3. Continue Reading →