ACTA: US Intervention on IP Enforcement Trends at WTO Council for TRIPS (28 February 2012)
These are the interventions delivered by the United States of America on 28 February 2012 during WTO Council for TRIPS discussions on ACTA under “IP Enforcement Trends”.
N. IP ENFORCEMENT TRENDS[U.S. First Intervention]
• We appreciate this opportunity to discuss enforcement of IP rights, and hopefully to dispel some misperceptions about IP enforcement in general and the ACTA in particular.
• Effective enforcement of intellectual property rights is critical to sustaining economic growth across all industries and globally.
28 Feb 2012: Intervention delivered by India at WTO TRIPS Council on IP Enforcement Trends noting concerns with ACTA and TPPA
This intervention was delivered by India at today’s WTO Council for TRIPS during discussions of agenda item “N” on IP Enforcement Trends. The statement raises India’s concerns with plurilateral agreements like ACTA and TPPA and their potential impacts on public health, international exhaustion, border measures and digital goods and internet freedom.
USPTO Holds Public Hearing on Genetic Diagnostic Testing
On February 16, 2012, the USPTO held a public hearing on genetic diagnostic testing, permitting stakeholders to present their views relating to DNA patents, exclusive licensing, patient health and genetic testing, particularly as they relate to secondary or confirmatory genetic diagnostic testing. Notes from the hearing and speaker statements are included below. KEI’s oral statement can be found here.
KEI Statement at USPTO Public Hearing on Genetic Diagnostic Testing
On February 16, 2012, the USPTO held a public hearing on genetic diagnostic testing, pursuant to a Congressional mandate that was part of the America Invents Act. This mandate directed the USPTO to evaluate several questions related to genetic diagnostic testing, particularly with regard to second opinion or confirmatory genetic testing. USPTO will deliver its final report to Congress in June. Notes from the public hearing are available in a separate blog post.
What we don’t know, and why, about incentives to stimulate biomedical R&D
This is an essay about strategic ignorance, as regards evidence relevant to policies that cost consumers and taxpayers billions of dollars.
The United States government grants 20 year patents on pharmaceutical drugs, and it also provides a growing number of other non-patent incentives and subsidies to stimulate R&D investments in new medicines. Are these incentives and subsidies necessary or cost effective? How would anyone know?
Here are some of the incentives we offer:
- Up to five year extensions of patents on pharmaceutical drugs.
Sorafenib (Nexavar)
On February 14, 2012, KEI filed an affidavit in an India compulsory licensing case involving Bayer patents on cancer drug Sorafenib (Nexavar). The price for Nexavar in India is $47 per 200 milligram tablet. At a daily dose of 4 tablets, this comes to $5,637 per month, or more than $68 thousand per year. The per capita income in India was $1,330 in 2010.
Initial FDA approval
Date of FDA NDA application 21-923: Signed July 6, 2005. Received by FDA on July 8, 2005.
Date on FDA approval: December 20, 2005.
Continue ReadingKEI and Essential Inventions comments to Special 301 Committee
U.S. Dept of Commerce asked to review Africa Intellectual Property Forum compliance w/ Executive Order 13155
Health GAP, KEI, Oxfam, Public Citizen, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and Professor Susan Sell have written Cameron Forbes Kerry, the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Commerce, asking Kerry to “review work on the Africa Intellectual Property Forum, currently scheduled for April 3-5, 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa, to see if the sponsorship of the event violates Executive Order 13155, on Access to HIV/AIDS Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technologies.” Executive Order 13155 was issued by President Clinton on May 10, 2000 after an extensive review of U.S. Continue Reading
Damages for infringement
United States
- Text of various US FTA Agreements on standards for damages for infringements.
- US Statutes
2012: KEI asks Senator Leahy (D-VT) to demand greater transparency in the TPPA
On January 26, 2012, KEI sent a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, calling for greater transparency in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). The letter highlights the fact that the general public is kept in the dark regarding negotiating positions and the actual text while “cleared advisers” and corporate lobbyists have unequal access to information. It calls for Senator Leahy to urge the Obama Administration to release the negotiating text in order to allow full and effective public participation in our democratic society.