2009: Letter on Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger: Ask your member of Congress to sign Pascrell letter to DOJ
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WIPO stalemate: No agreement reached on genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore
*The author thanks Professor Marc Perlman (Brown University) for his comprehensive notes on the IGC deliberations.
TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) resolution on copyright terms
TACD has issued a resolution on copyright terms, and measures to mitigate the harm from excessive terms. The TACD Press release follows:
Civil Society letter to Members of the WHO Expert Working Group on R&D Financing
Today nine NGOs sent a letter the WHO Expert Working Group on R&D Financing. The letter focuses on issues about transparency, conflicts of interest, and EWG outcomes. The whole EWG seems to be going very badly right now, in part because of the US government and much of Northern Europe is working hand and glove with the pharmaceutical industry, and partly because the Gates Foundation is protecting big pharma and seems to have an ideological attachment to strong IPR.
Switzerland’s intellectual property rules are often different from what you might expect
The US Department of State “2009 Investment Climate Statement for Switzerland” provides an interesting and often unexpected portrait of the intellectual property landscape for a country that is often a hard-liner in global IPR negotiations. Continue Reading
US guts transparency clause in PAHO R&D resolution
The PAHO negotiations on the R&D resolution has produced a new draft, which radically guts the provision on transparency of pharmaceutical industry economics.
The US opposed this language:
“(j) to develop, with input from Member States, a possible standard for disclosure of economic data for drug registered for sale, including disclosures of the costs of R&D, the prices of products, and the annual revenues from the sale of products.”
The US agreed to this language:
Designing Prizes
I just finished a two day meeting in Manchester, England, in a meeting of Joe Stigltiz’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) Task Force on Intellectual Property and Development. The meeting was held at the University of Manchester’s Brooks World Poverty Institute. The agenda and conference papers for the meeting are on the web here, including a paper on prizes I wrote with Tim Hubbard. Continue Reading
Views on the outcome of WIPO SCCR 18: Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay Treaty for Reading Disabilities
On Friday, May 29, the 18th Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) agreed to consider a proposal submitted by the governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay Relating to Limitations and Exceptions on a Treaty for Reading Disabled Persons at its next meeting in November 2009 (19th Session). KEI has collated views on the outcome of the 18th SCCR from the following countries and NGOs.
Views on the outcome of WIPO SCCR 18: Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay Treaty for Reading Disabled Persons
President Obama picks David Kappos as USPTO Director, first open source fan to run USPTO
Our impressions about this appointment are positive, but we would like to hear from others. IBM has been very smart on IPR issues lately, recognizing that knowledge is often more valuable when shared. Coming from a successful technology firm, he will have both credibility and insight into innovation policy. He brings more balance to the job than anyone we can remember. Below are some interesting quotes from various articles.
Damages, Injunctions and Transparency key issues in ACTA negotiations
The decision to restart the ACTA negotiations makes it important to understand the nature and consequence of proposed agreement. Following a complaint about transparency, this note focuses on damages and injunctions.