WIPO General Assembly 2016: Statement of Knowledge Ecology International on the Report of the SCCR

On Wednesday, 5 October 2016, Knowledge Ecology International delivered the following intervention on the agenda item concerning the Report of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).

Agenda item 11: Report on the SCCR

244 words

Thank you Chair.

Congratulations to Sylvie Forbin, the highly qualified new DDG for the Copyright and Creative Industries Sector.

KEI welcomes the entry into force of the Marrakesh Treaty, and look forward to additional work at WPO to expand access to knowledge and knowledge based goods.

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WIPO General Assembly 2016: Opening Statement of Knowledge Ecology International

On October 4th, 2016, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered this opening statement on the occasion of the Fifty-Sixth Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).


KEI General Statement – WIPO General Assembly – 2016

October 4th, 2016

Thank you Chair for providing Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) the opportunity to speak today.

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General Assembly 2016 – Opening Statement of Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group

On Monday, 3 October 2016, Bangladesh delivered the following opening statement on behalf of the LDC Group at the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) General Assembly.

General Statement on behalf of the LDC Group at the 56th Session of the Assemblies of the Member states of WIPO
[3 October 2016]
Delivered by Ambassador H.E. Mr. M Shameem Ahsan,
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations
( Suggested time: 5 minutes)

Mr. President,
Director General,
Distinguished representatives,
Good morning.

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National Association of Manufacturers told USTR the EU position on LDC extension made a mockery of international trading system

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.

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500+ Pages of Documents on NFL Attempts to Influence NIH Funding of Concussion Studies

Knowledge Ecology International recently obtained extensive email correspondence between officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), and the National Football League (NFL), which shed light on accusations of NFL attempts to control the NIH research agenda related to repeat concussion injuries in football players.

The records, which we received through FOIA, are available here:

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NIH Waivers for U.S. Manufacturing Requirements for Federally-Funded Drugs, 2011 to May 2015

The National Institutes of Health, from 2011 through May of 2015, appears to have granted all requests for waivers of a requirement under federal law that patent holders who benefit from U.S. taxpayer-funding ensure that their patented inventions are manufactured in the United States.

The Bayh-Dole Act imposes various requirements on the grant of exclusive licenses by the patent holders of federally-funded inventions. In particular, the act generally requires that exclusive licensees “substantially” manufacture the invention in the United States.

The Act, however, also allows for the patent holder to obtain a waiver on the U.S. manufacturing requirement from the Federal agency that provided for the funding of the invention. According to a FOIA response recently obtained by Knowledge Ecology International, the NIH seems to grant every manufacturing waiver request that comes its way. Continue Reading

Summary of Report of United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

On September 14, 2016, the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines released its report, in which they had a mandate to “review and assess proposals and recommend solutions for remedying the policy incoherence between the justifiable rights of inventors, international human rights law, trade rules and public health in the context of health technologies.”[1]

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