Tedmund Wan
Knowledge Ecology International
November 11, 2011
Introduction
On 14 September 2011 and 16 September 2011, the World Trade Organization (WTO) undertook a trade policy review of India. All members of the WTO are subject to review under the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). The TPRM takes place in the “Trade Policy Review Body which is actually the WTO General Council — comprising the WTO’s full membership — operating under special rules and procedures” (Source: WTO, Trade Policy Reviews: Brief Introduction). Continue Reading
The 1980 Bayh-Dole Act is named after two former US Senators, Birch Bayh and Bob Dole. In 2002 both claimed the Bayh-Dole Act march-in provisions were not intended to address cases where prices for inventions are unreasonable, and Senator Bayh repeated this view during a 2004 march-in case involving Abbott patents on ritonavir.
Among the provisions of the Act that suggest otherwise are the following:
On Thursday, 16 August 2012, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in the case Association for Molecular Pathology v. US Patent and Trademark Office, again rejecting the plaintiffs’ contentions that isolated DNA is not eligible for patent protection. This case surrounds the patent eligibility of isolated DNA, particularly the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes known to be associated with an individual’s susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer.
As Geneva awakes from its summer slumber post-Jeûne genevois (6 September 2012), the following conferences and negotiations are expected to shape the knowledge governance landscape in the second semester of 2012 at WHO, WIPO and WTO.
World Health Organization
Here are upcoming meetings of the WHO in 2012 of relevance to public heath, innovation and access.
Text of 1971 Berne Convention Appendix on Special Provisions Regarding Developing Countries
Berne Exceptions not subject to 3-step test
When politicians and trade officials tell you they want to impose a restrictive 3-step test to narrow the copyright limitations and exceptions permitted under the Berne Convention, take a minute to review what the Berne exceptions cover, and ask yourself, why would anyone want to further limit these exceptions?
[The related rights in the Rome Convention, the rights in the WCT, WPPT and Beijing treaties, and the flexabilities in the WTO TRIPS Agreement require a separate discussion].
Article 2(4,7 and 8) – Protected Works:
1 Leak of TPP text on copyright Limitations and Exceptions
Continue Reading Dmitry Medvedev’s Nov 2011 message to the G20 leaders on call for new copyright treaty
In 2011, Russia made a very important proposal to the G20 regarding the need for new global norms on copyright. Just a few parts of the message illustrate its ambition.
- to expand the opportunities of right holders to manage and exercise the rights to the results of intellectual activities on the Internet;
- to amend the way of obtaining a right holder’s consent
The Berne Convention revisions for limitations and exceptions to copyright
The Berne Convention revisions for limitations and exceptions to copyright 2012:1 KEI Research Note August 2012. Revised June 18, 2017. This research note reports on the evolution of each copyright exception found in the Berne Convention for the Protection of… Continue Reading