Ari Emanuel: Did he mention lobbying the President or the Vice President?
See update at the end. ———-
Day after European Parliament votes against ACTA, Obama expresses support
- March 10, 2010. In the Guardian: Ari Emanuel, the co-chief executive of William Morris Endeavor, the biggest Hollywood talent agency, was among several executives attending a meeting in Abu Dhabi, calling for governments to get tough on illegal downloading.
Emanuel, the brother of US presidential adviser Rahm, said the industry was talking to the US government in a bid to introduce a “three strikes and you’re out” law to govern illegal downloading.
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633 to 13, EU Parliament votes to make ACTA public, and more sensitive to civil liberties and consumer protection
In a stunning 633 to 13 vote, the EU Parliament voted for a resolution on ACTA that addresses a wide range of criticisms that civil society groups have made of the process and substance.
The KEI statement on the EU vote follows:
Jeffrey Kindler rewarded by Pfizer for his influence with governments
On July 28, 2006, Jeffrey Kindler replaced Hank McKinnell as CEO of Pfizer. That day the Pfizer stock price closed at $26.11. With the stock trading today at a little more than $17, it would seem that shareholders have lost a significant amount of their investment. Nonetheless, Kindler is doing well.
FOIA document: In 2007, US Ambassador Ralph Boyce was pleased that Abbott withdrew life saving drugs from market in Thailand
In 2007, Thailand was involved in a dispute over the granting of compulsory licenses on medicines, including the patents used for Kaletra, an Abbott drug used in the treatment of AIDS. Kaletra is the brand name for a fixed dose combination of lopinavir and ritonavir (LPV/r) — two drugs invented at Abbott on an NIH grant. In 2007, LPV/r was the preferred combination for protease inhibitor regimes used to treat AIDS. Continue Reading
USTR pressures Taiwan on pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceuticals and medical devices
This from USTR’s 2010 Trade Policy Agenda and 2009 Annual Report:
The USPTO-Pfizer collaboration to change India’s laws on patents and test data
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a joint program with Pfizer to fund and manage seminars in India on “misconceptions of evergreening” and “the importance of regulatory data protection and patent linkage.” KEI has submitted a FOIA request to USPTO on this topic, and received a small installment of documents on Friday. Attached to this blog are 4 pages of documents that we received from two meetings held in Mumbai, India on September 9, 2009. Ten journalists and 15 NGOs attended the meetings. Continue Reading
Six Myths about the treaty for people with disabilities that should be debunked next week?
Next week (March 8-12) delegates from various developing countries will gather in Washington, DC for a week long “INTERNATIONAL TRAINING FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND COUNTRIES IN TRANSITION ON EMERGING ISSUES IN COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS AND ISSUES PERTAINING TO BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS” co-organised by the US Copyright Office and WIPO. We hope that at least 6 Myths about the treaty for people with disabilities proposed by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay will be clearly debunked once and for all during the training.
Senator Leahy patent reform bill out of step with ACTA provisions on patent damages
On March 4, 2010, the Senate Judiciary Committee released its new “compromise bill” on patent reform. Senator Leahy described the objectives of the bill as follows:*
“we wanted to improve patent quality and the operations at the [Patent and Trademark Office], and address runaway damage awards that were harming innovation. We are close to a compromise that will address these issues.”
Indian NGOs confront GWU Law School efforts to push maximalist IPR norms in India
The ties between Universities and businesses are often complex and blurred. Private companies or trade associations fund research and seminars, and have consulting relationships with faculty members, trying to shape public policy and judicial decisions on a wide range of issues. A particularly interesting industry/university connection concerns something called the “India Project,” that is associated with the George Washington University (GWU) Law School.