On Wednesday, 11 March 2015, Farida Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights presented her seminal report on Copyright policy and the right to science and culture (A/HRC/28/57) at the 28th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Highlights from the report’s recommendations include the following:
As part of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) technical assistance and capacity building program, on Thursday, 26 February 2015, the WTO Secretariat convened a Symposium on the TRIPS Agreement for TRIPS Council Members and Observers which brought together negotiators from the 1986–94 Uruguay Round to discuss how the Round introduced intellectual property norms into the architecture of the multilateral trading system. In addition, other experts were brought in to discuss what has happened since the introduction of the TRIPS Agreement, and what augurs for the future.
St Jude holds 24 patents with influenza in the specification, that also disclose US government rights. Some of these were discussed here: /node/2188
PAT. NO. Title
1 8,574,592 Modified influenza virus for monitoring and improving vaccine efficiency
2 8,551,481 Anti-cancer vaccine composition comprising an anti-CD223 antibody and kit comprising an anti-cancer vaccine and an anti-CD223 antibody
3 8,309,099 DNA transfection system for the generation of negative strand RNA virus
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Our 2009 FOIA request, and 42 pages of CDC emails debating what to give us.
/misc-docs/FOIA/14-01041-cdc-foia-frequest-2009.pdf
The February 17, 2015 cover letter from CDC.
/wp-content/uploads/CDC_17feb2015_FOIA_CoverLetter.pdf
The 184 page CDC foia response, which we received in February 2015. Note that we were particularly interested in the patent issues related to reverse genetics.
At the February 24, 2015 USTR hearing on Special 301, KEI asked to provide supplemental comments on R&D for the record, and KEI was separately asked by USTR to provide comments on online pharmacies, and by DHHS to comment on the relationship between emergencies and compulsory licensing. (The KEI page on Special 301 is here: /ustr/special301).
At the February 24, 2015 USTR hearing on Special 301, KEI asked to provide supplemental comments on R&D for the record, and KEI was separately asked by USTR to provide comments on online pharmacies, and by DHHS to comment on the relationship between emergencies and compulsory licensing. (The KEI page on Special 301 is here: /ustr/special301).
At the February 24, 2015 USTR hearing on Special 301, KEI asked to provide supplemental comments on R&D for the record, and KEI was separately asked by USTR to provide comments on online pharmacies, and by DHHS to comment on the relationship between emergencies and compulsory licensing. (The KEI page on Special 301 is here: /ustr/special301).
The following statement was delivered by the European Union on Tuesday, 24 February 2015 at the WTO TRIPS Council during discussions on “Concerns with respect to proposals for plain packaging of tobacco products in the United Kingdom and Ireland”.
On Wednesday February 24, 2015, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Special 301 Committee held its annual public meeting following written comments sent earlier by trade associations, corporations and a few public interest groups that follow trade and intellectual property.
On February 24, 2015, the USTR convened the Special 301 Review, taking testimony almost exclusively from witnesses representing large corporate rights holders. Over the course of the three-and-a-half hour hearing, groups such as Phrma, NAM, IPO, and the misleadingly-named Alliance for Fair Trade with India (an alliance comprised of groups such as Phrma, NAM, MPAA and many other similar groups) as well as foreign-owned multinational Bridgestone, pushed for the watch-listing of countries that fail to implement TRIPS+ measures. Continue Reading