Knowledge Ecology International

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”.

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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.

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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.

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Much of the April negotiations on the treaty for copyright exceptions for persons with disabilities was spent discussing the issue of countries that are not members of the WTO, or the Berne Convention, or countries classified by the UN as least developed countries (LDCs), and currently not bound by the TRIPS agreement provisions on copyright.

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WIPO’s development agenda committee unfolds against the backdrop of a looming Millenium Development Goal deadline

3 June 2013

Kirsten Alisha Williams

WIPO’s development agenda committee unfolds against the backdrop of a looming Millenium Development Goal deadline

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The agenda for the meeting is here: http://tacd-ip.org/archives/945
My slides are here.
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The drafting group has finished its work, and below is the “Final” text on the “Decisions Point” that will accompany the resolution on the CEWG work, it is very similar to the text from Friday, but stronger in some areas and perhaps not as good in some others. For example, on the topic of the finance mechanism, reference to “voluntary” has been eliminated.

Friday text: “demonstrate voluntary and sustainable financing mechanism.”
Saturday text: “propose and foster financing mechanisms including innovative, sustainable and pooled funding.”

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On Friday, 24 May 2013, in the United States’ intervention to the 66th World Health Assembly’s deliberations on the Consultative Expert Working Group on R&D Financing, the US dropped a bombshell by proposing a decision point with the following language. We expect the Assembly to reconvene at 14:30 Geneva time and discuss the US proposal.

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On May 17, 2013, DG trade held a public briefing on the IP Chapter for the TTIP and the E/Japan trade agreement. The TTIP discussion was led by Pedro Velasco Martins, the Deputy Head of Unit for Intellectual Property and Public Procurement. Unlike some recent USTR briefings, which were off-the-record, this was on-the-record meeting, and DG Trade even displayed a suggested twitter hash tag.

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