14 May 2020 – The WHO Covid-19 Technology Pool: The solution to ensure global access to Covid-19 health technologies

Livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNMpuQfH088 On 14 May 2020, Health Action International, Knowledge Ecology International, Medicines Law & Policy, Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation, and Wemos will convene a briefing entitled: “The WHO Covid-19 Technology Pool: The solution to ensure global access to Covid-19… Continue Reading

Copyright and related rights issues in the USTR Special 301 Report 2020

Since 1974, the “Special 301 Report” (the Report) provides an annual review of the state of intellectual property protection and enforcement among U.S. trading partners around the world. Amended in 1988 by Congress, the Trade Act is “to provide for… Continue Reading

KEI comments on the resolution WHA73: “Covid-19 Response” proposed by the European Union

On Friday, 24 April 2020, Knowledge Ecology International submitted comments on the resolution WHA73: “Covid-19 Response” proposed by the European Union (EU). The original zero draft text and the note verbale proposed by the European Union can be found here.… Continue Reading

WHO Director-General Remarks in support of global pooling of rights in COVID-19 Technologies and data, in open science and open data

On April 6, 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, gave a media briefing on COVID-19 and the WHO’s efforts to combat the pandemic. In his remarks, Dr. Tedros specifically highlighted the proposal by the… Continue Reading

Canadian Policy option that can permit the government to exercise rights in patents arising under procurement contracts in Canada, if “prior obligations” exist, and how that relates to WHO COVID-19 pooling proposal

In Canada, the foreground intellectual property arising under procurement contracts by default belongs to the contractor. However, there are several exceptions to this rule. One key policy provision allows the government to claim title of the foreground intellectual property “where…… Continue Reading