European Union announces its mandate to negotiate a binding Treaty for the Blind

On 19 November 2012, the European Union announced to WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) that it now had the mandate to “negotiate the conclusion conclusion of an instrument including a binding treaty” for the blind.

EUROPEAN UNION

Statement by the European Union and its Member States 25th Session of WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights

Mr Chairman,

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Mark Dybul emerges victorious in Global Fund leadership race defeating candidates from Canada, France and UK

It was a papal conclave save for the plume of white smoke. At 17h04 on Thursday, 15 November 2012, the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced that Dr Mark Dybul would be the organization’s next Executive Director following a process marked by opacity and secrecy that would do the Vatican proud. Dybul (former United States Global AIDS Coordinator) beat a field of three other candidates that included, Monique Barbut (France), Robert Greenhill (Canada) and Barbara Stocking (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). Continue Reading

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Pay-for-Delay Circuit Split Continues; 31 States File Amicus Brief Arguing Pay-For-Delay is Presumptively Unlawful

Earlier this year, in the case In re K-Dur, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that reverse settlement agreements, also known as “pay-for delay” arrangements, were prima facie evidence of anticompetitive behavior. The court noted that the presumption that such payments are unreasonable restraints of trade can be rebutted by a showing that the payment either offered a pro-competitive benefit or that the payment was for a purpose other than delayed entry into the market of generics. Continue Reading

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NIH expects to rule on ritonavir march-in petition “by the end of the year”

Mark Rohrbaugh has written to Krista Cox to acknowledge the October 25, 2012 march-in petition. According to Rohrbaugh, the petition has be delegated to NIH’s Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), and “NIH has begun to review the issues you have brought to our attention.” Rohrbaugh closes by saying “We expect to respond to your request by the end of the year.” Continue Reading

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