On Monday, 17 June 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States released its opinion in Federal Trade Comm’n v. Actavis (formerly captioned as FTC v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). The decision, with a 5-3 split, found that pay-for-delay settlement agreements are unusual, raising concerns of anticompetitive behavior, and are not immune from antitrust scrutiny. Continue Reading
On 13 June 2013, the long awaited opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case on whether human DNA is patentable was issued and, the last line of the opinion summarizes, “We merely hold that genes and the information they encode are not patent eligible under §101 simply because they have been isolated from the surrounding genetic material.”
Continue Reading
On Thursday, 13 June 2013, at the Twenty-third session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Brazil delivered the following intervention introducing draft resolution L.10/Rev.1 on Access to medicines in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of physical and mental health on behalf of India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA), Egypt, Indonesia, Senegal and Thailand and 27 original cosponsors including Gabon, on behalf of the 54 countries of the African Group.
Mr. President,Obama administration blocking consensus at Human Rights Council on access to medicines resolution
In their introduction to Realizing the Right to Health, Andrew Clapham and Mary Robinson provide the following anecdote.
The run up to the 2008 election in the United States focused at one point on the nature of health care in America. During the second presidential debate, the candidates were asked the following question: “Is health care in America a privilege, a right, or a responsibility?” Senator Obama (as he then was) replied as follows:KEI Statement in Support of the Unlocking Technology Act (H.R. 1892)
Statement of Knowledge Ecology International in Support of the Unlocking Technology Act (H.R. 1892)
June 9, 2013The bipartisan Unlocking Technology Act (H.R. 1892), introduced by Representative Lofgren (D-CA) and co-sponsored by Representatives DeFazio (D-OR), Eshoo (D-CA), Holt (D-NJ), Massie (R-KY), and Polis (D-CO) takes the welcome step of scaling back the overprotection of “digital locks” and promoting consumer choice and competition.
People who oppose robust copyright exceptions for blind people (the Private Sector)
May 18, 2013 About the list. This is a work in progress. KEI has been engaged in the negotiations for a WIPO treaty on copyright exceptions for persons with disabilities since 2008. We have attended each negotiation that has been… Continue Reading
Joint Letter to the 66th World Health Assembly: Follow-up of the report of the CEWG
Joint Letter to the 66th World Health Assembly: Follow-up of the report of the CEWG
20 May 2013
Distinguished Delegate,
We urge the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Member States to exercise leadership, ambition and innovative thinking in developing new paradigms to take forward the work of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (CEWG) in reconciling the objectives of stimulating medical innovation and ensuring access for all.
May 13 Brownbag lunch on WIPO treaty for blind negotiations
Note, we are adding some video clips from the meeting here:
May 13, 2013. KEI meeting on WIPO negotiations. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLw9jWaZPEpzafm6_61VtLb6aW-nFaINa
On May 13, 2013, KEI will host a 12:30 to 2:30 brown bag lunch for a discussion of the WIPO Treaty for the Blind negotiations. It will be possible to attend in person, or follow the meeting on the telephone.
Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) calls WIPO treaty for blind “dangerous precedent for other areas of IP Law”
On April 15, 2013, the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) sent a letter to Teresa Stanek Rea, the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, setting out the IPO “concerns” about the proposed WIPO treaty for persons who are blind or visually impaired. (Copy here).
Human Rights, Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines, notes from Yale workshop
On April 26, 2013 I attended a half day meeting on “A Human Rights Approach to Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines” organized by the Yale Law School and the Yale School of Public Health. These are notes from my interventions on behalf of KEI.
1. KEI does a lot of work on intellectual property rights that has impact on human rights. We do not always give prominence to human rights law or the language of human rights, although at times and in the right context, it can be important to do so.