Knowledge Ecology International

I am in a meeting of the Equitable Access Initiative (EAI), which is considering new ways of measuring development and/or health needs, in the context of the priority setting by donors. I am a member of the Expert Panel, and this was my intervention in the morning session:

The presentations by John McArthur and Dominik Zotti were excellent, and the work of the four expert groups is a very useful contribution for those struggling with the challenge of setting priorities for aid.

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The NIH has a notice for comments on proposed licenses of several patents relating to the “Production of Attenuated Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines”. See: https://federalregister.gov/a/2016-03486

We asked Peter Soukas, a Senior Technology Licensing Specialist in the Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office, at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), these questions:

1. What provisions exist in the license to protect US residents against excessive or unreasonable pricing?

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Submission of Knowledge Ecology International
U.S. Copyright Office Docket No. 2015-6

This is the submission of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) in response to the U.S. Copyright Office request for public comment on “software-enabled consumer products” (U.S. Copyright Office Docket No. 2015-6).

Introduction

Knowledge Ecology International is a non-governmental organization with offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, that searches for better outcomes, including new solutions, to the management of knowledge resources.

This submission covers these topics:

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) will convene its Council for TRIPS (TRIPS Council) from Tuesday, 1 March 2016 to Wednesday, 2 March 2016. Australia, the European Union, Switzerland and the United States of America have submitted a written request for the item “Intellectual Property and Innovation: Education and Diffusion” to be placed on the proposed agenda.

WTO/AIR/IP/6
5 FEBRUARY 2016

SUBJECT: COUNCIL FOR TRIPS

THE NEXT MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS WILL BE HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD ON 1-2 MARCH 2016. THE MEETING WILL START AT
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This is the announcement.

For Immediate Release February 10, 2016

TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, done at Marrakesh on June 27, 2013 (Marrakesh Treaty). I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, a report of the Secretary of State with respect to the Marrakesh Treaty that includes a summary of its provisions.

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By Salvatore Angotti*

Introduction
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On February 8, 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) responded to Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and the Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment’s (UACT) letter requesting that the federal government exercise its authority under the Bayh-Dole Act to break patents on an expensive prostate cancer drug.

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In May 2014, the 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) passed Decision WHA67(15) providing WHO the mandate to explore the feasibility of creating a voluntary pooled fund fund on R&D hosted by the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). The Decision outlined three principles guiding the consideration of the pooled fund:

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