Knowledge Ecology International

DHHS has declared a public health emergency over the Zika virus, and authorized emergency use of diagnostic tests. (Copy here)

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(An expanded, edited and better version of this is available in our March 4, 2016 reply comment to USTR, available here: https://www.keionline.org/node/2440)

These were my notes from my testimony for KEI at today’s USTR Special 301 hearing

Big market puts countries on the #special301 watch list

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The dearth of recent compulsory licenses out of India has led to speculation that the Government has made an agreement not to issue such licenses.

On reviewing submissions for the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s upcoming 2016 Special 301 Review, several industry documents confirm that such an agreement exists.

The submission by the United States Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center states:

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KEI is one of the non-government entities speaking at the USTR Special 301 hearing on Tuesday. We each get 7 minutes of testimony and 3 minutes of questions. (The schedule is here).

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KEI intervention: TTIP Stakeholder events Round 12, Brussels (24 February 2016)

A Positive Agenda for TTIP – What we would like to see in the TTIP that would expand access to knowledge?

1) Marrakesh Treaty ratification

The TTIP should include an obligation to ratify and to implement the WIPO Marrakesh Treaty for Persons Who Are Blind for Otherwise Disabled, in order to expand access to accessible works to persons with disabilities in the European Union and the United States, as well as in other countries.

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Other KEI comments on NIH licenses are found here: /nih-licenses

February 22, 2016

Patrick McCue, Ph.D.
Senior Licensing and Patenting Manager
Technology Advancement Office
The National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
12A South Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
via email: patrick.mccue@nih.gov

Dear Dr. McCue:

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I am in a meeting of the Equitable Access Initiative (EAI), which is considering new ways of measuring development and/or health needs, in the context of the priority setting by donors. I am a member of the Expert Panel, and this was my intervention in the morning session:

The presentations by John McArthur and Dominik Zotti were excellent, and the work of the four expert groups is a very useful contribution for those struggling with the challenge of setting priorities for aid.

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The NIH has a notice for comments on proposed licenses of several patents relating to the “Production of Attenuated Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines”. See: https://federalregister.gov/a/2016-03486

We asked Peter Soukas, a Senior Technology Licensing Specialist in the Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office, at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), these questions:

1. What provisions exist in the license to protect US residents against excessive or unreasonable pricing?

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Submission of Knowledge Ecology International
U.S. Copyright Office Docket No. 2015-6

This is the submission of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) in response to the U.S. Copyright Office request for public comment on “software-enabled consumer products” (U.S. Copyright Office Docket No. 2015-6).

Introduction

Knowledge Ecology International is a non-governmental organization with offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, that searches for better outcomes, including new solutions, to the management of knowledge resources.

This submission covers these topics:

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