Obama asks the Senate to ratify the Marrakesh treaty for the blind

This is the announcement.

For Immediate Release February 10, 2016

TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, done at Marrakesh on June 27, 2013 (Marrakesh Treaty). I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, a report of the Secretary of State with respect to the Marrakesh Treaty that includes a summary of its provisions.

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Xtandi 2016 March-In Request

Today Knowledge Ecology International and the Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment (UACT) petitioned the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, and the National Institutes of Health, asking that they exercise either their royalty-free, non-exclusive license or federal “march-in” rights to end the monopoly on an expensive prostate cancer drug, enzalutamide, marketed as Xtandi by Astellas, a Japanese pharmaceutical company.

Xtandi was invented at UCLA on federal grants from the NIH and DoD.

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KEI intervention on definition of broadcasting

WIPO SCCR 31 is having a text based discussion of the language for a proposed broadcasting treaty. The meeting is open to NGOs, instant transcripts are streamed over the Internet, and the proceedings are webcast. I was allowed to make to technical interventions this afternoon on the definitions. This is a slightly edited version of my second intervention, on the question of whether or not to have separate definitions for broadcasting and cable casting.

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KEI’s Initial Comments on the MPP/BMS license to patents and know-how for daclatasvir (DCV)

KEI’s Initial Comments on the MPP/BMS license to patents and know-how for daclatasvir (DCV)

November 23, 2015

FYI: Contact: Andrew Goldman (andrew.goldman@keionline.org) or Zack Struver (zack.struver@keionline.org)

Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) notes the successful conclusion of negotiations between Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for a royalty-free license and technology transfer agreement on daclatasvir (DCV), an important new medicine for the treatment of the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and offers comments on the agreement.

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My testimony this morning at the US ITC hearing on “Economic Impact of Trade Agreements”

Attached is a PDF file with my testimony this morning for the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) hearing on
“Economic Impact of Trade Agreements Implemented Under Trade Authorities Procedure”, 2016 Report. Inv. No.: 332­555 November 17, 2015

Manon Ress also provided testimony at this hearing, for the Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment (UACT). A copy of her testimony is available here.
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