Opening Remarks WIPO DIP Com 18 June 2013
By: Maryanne Diamond on behalf of the WBU

Thank you Mr Chairman for the opportunity to speak at this most important Diplomatic conference.

The Holy See delivered this statement on 18 June 2013 at the Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference on a WIPO Treaty for the Blind.

Statement by His Excellency Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi

Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva at World Intellectual Property Organization Diplomatic Conference to Conclude a Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities Marrakech (Morocco)

18 June 2013

Mr. President,

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.

On 13 June 2013, Ambassador Eileen Donahoe delivered the following intervention on 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 explaining why the United States called for a vote on this resolution and would abstain.

Explanation of vote, on the resolution entitled “Access to medicines in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”

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."

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,

On April 19, 2013, the US Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter to the USPTO to "express concerns about the ongoing meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) regarding visually impaired persons (VIPs).

David Hirschmann, CEO of the Chamber's GIPC, signed the letter

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:

On 27 February 2013, Ecuador submitted a paper (IP/C/W/585) to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Council) titled "Contribution of Intellectual Property to Facilitating the Transfer of Environmentally Rational Technology". This subject was placed under agenda item 11 at the June TRIPS Council's meeting under the heading of "Intellectual Property, Climate Change and Development".

The following are four US Department of State cables discussing the status of Thailand as regards the USTR Special 301 review. KEI recently received the cables from the US Department of State in response to an earlier FOIA request.

The WTO TRIPS Council has just approved an extension of TRIPS Obligations for Least Developed Countries until July 1, 2021, a new eight year extension. The new extension comes with some restrictions, but provides more freedom than the previous extension, which had a widely criticized and now eliminated "no rollback" clause. The decision stops well short of what the LDCs had proposed.

Statement of Knowledge Ecology International in Support of the Unlocking Technology Act (H.R. 1892)
June 9, 2013

The 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.

My name is Fedro De Tomassi. I am a student at St. Olaf College, class of 2014, and next week I will be a volunteer (as a guide and interpreter) at the Diplomatic Conference to Conclude a Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities (June 17 to 28, 2013 – Marrakesh, Morocco) http://www.wipo.int/dc2013/en/

I was in Geneva today, and was told by several delegates the US is opposing this language in the negotiating text (from the Annex)

[Proposed Footnote: It is understood that Contracting Parties who are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) acknowledge all the principles and objectives of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and understand that nothing in this Treaty affects the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, including, but not limited to, the provisions relating to anti-competitive practices.]

The WIPO diplomatic conference to negotiate a treaty for persons who are visually impaired is slated for 17-28 June 2013 in Marrakech, Morocco. In the context of these negotiations, there have been several discussions regarding the fair use tradition in the United States and whether references to it are important to the treaty.