Knowledge Ecology International sent letters today (attached to this release), September 21, 2015, to the Office of the General Counsel to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Commerce, asking that they investigate USTR and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the potential violation of an Executive Order issued by Bill Clinton — which prohibits the use of trade pressures to hinder polices related to access to HIV/AIDS medicines in sub-Saharan Africa — in their attempt to stop a request by Least Develop Continue Reading →
On Friday, 11 September 2015 five public interest groups (Health GAP, Knowledge Ecology International, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam America and Public Citizen) sent a letter to Ambassador Michael Froman (United States Trade Representative) and Michelle Lee, (Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office) requesting that the Obama administration disclose its position on the LDC request for an extension of their pharmaceutical production transition period under the WTO TRIPS Agreement.
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These were comments KEI provided to the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), for its consultation on expanding the mandate to include drugs to treat the hepatitis C virus.
To: consultation@medicinespatentpool.org.
Date: August 28, 2015
Re: Comments by James Love on behalf of KEI for the consultation regarding the MPP mandate to expand into HCV (and other diseases).
KEI has submitted joint comments with UAEM in this consultation. Here on behalf of KEI I make a few additional points.
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Ambassador Livia Leu, Head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Division and Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements, Switzerland
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28 July 2015
WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP)
Written Statement of Knowledge Ecology International on Patents and Health
As the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is currently reported to be in the final stages of negotiation, it is both appropriate and urgent that this Committee is addressing the topic of patents and health.
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India delivered this lengthy, nuanced intervention on inventive step on 28 July 2015 citing the US Supreme Court observations on a person skilled in the art (PSIA), the KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex, Inc. decision on obviousness as applied to patent claims, the IPAB Roche decision (in relation to inventive step) and jurisprudence from the House of Lords on inventive step.
India’s Intervention on a study on inventive step (SCP/22/3) at SCP/22
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On Monday afternoon, 27 July 2015, Brazil on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) delivered the following opening statement which,inter alia, called for a
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What is the TTIP?
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in the words of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), “is an ambitious, comprehensive, and high-standard trade and investment agreement being negotiated between the United States and the European Union (EU)” launched in 2013. (Source: USTR TTIP website) In President Obama’s State of the Union Address on 12 February 2013, Obama announched the launch of the TTIP:
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In a comprehensive, 2000 word speech to the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee (INTA) on Modernising Trade Policy – Effectiveness and Responsibility, European Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, cast a wide net in her speech covering in her words, 1) the “benefits of trade for all: our economy in general, consumers, entrepreneurs, SMEs and the poorest countries”, 2) “trade policy’s commitment to our values in the world, supporting our foreign policy, promoting the respect of human rights, soci Continue Reading →
Attached below is a letter KEI sent to Emily Bleimund, Senior Policy Advisor for International Trade for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and several other U.S. trade officials. The letter addresses three issues in the TPP text:
- There is a need for exceptions to exclusive rights in pharmaceutical and biologic drug test data.
- WTO standards for compulsory licenses should not be modified as part of a secret negotiation, or constrained by a 3-step test.
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