Knowledge Ecology International

The following WTO airgram WTO/AIR/3892/REV.1 contains the agenda for the upcoming WTO Council for TRIPS meeting to be held in Geneva from Tuesday, 28 February 2012 to Wednesday, 29 February 2012. Paragraph 2 and agenda items D, E, F, J, M and N will be of interest to readers. It should be noted that in the original document, the text is capitalized.

The Dominican Republic made a written request to the WTO secretariat that an additional agenda item be added (“M) on “Australia: Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011 and its compatibility with the TRIPS Agreement”.

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This is a blog about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). More information is available here: /acta

ACTA is an attempt to bypass multilateral institutions

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USTR asked to use trade pressure to curtail unauthorized copying of educational materials

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Every year, USTR publishes the names of countries that do not adequately protect intellectual property rights. (See /ustr/special301) . Among the classifications are the Priority Watch List (PWL) and the somewhat lower status Watch List (WL).

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President Obama claims to have kept “lobbyists” off the advisory boards for USTR. The Obama Administration relies upon the narrow legal definition of those persons who register to lobby the US Congress, which excludes expenditures to direct, supervise or support the lobbyists, and expenditures of many staff and consultants who are not fully engaged in lobbying the Congress. Expenditures to influence the executive branch (including USTR) has very little if any regulation, and are not counted as lobbying. Continue Reading →

Statement by the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)- Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC)

Geneva, 17 February 2012

Mr. President,

I join previous speakers and congratulate you on your election.

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18 January 2012

Chair of IGC 20, Ambassador Wayne McCook, Jamaica, and Wend Wendland, WIPO Courtesy of Marc Perlman

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On February 16, 2012, the USPTO held a public hearing on genetic diagnostic testing, permitting stakeholders to present their views relating to DNA patents, exclusive licensing, patient health and genetic testing, particularly as they relate to secondary or confirmatory genetic diagnostic testing. Notes from the hearing and speaker statements are included below. KEI’s oral statement can be found here.

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On February 16, 2012, the USPTO held a public hearing on genetic diagnostic testing, pursuant to a Congressional mandate that was part of the America Invents Act. This mandate directed the USPTO to evaluate several questions related to genetic diagnostic testing, particularly with regard to second opinion or confirmatory genetic testing. USPTO will deliver its final report to Congress in June. Notes from the public hearing are available in a separate blog post.

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