Save the Date-17 May 2011-KEI @ WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents: Patents and Health
Knowledge Ecology International: Patents and HealthDATE: Tuesday, 17 May 2011
TIME: 13:30-15h00
VENUE: Room B at the WIPO Main Building
Dramatic increase in waiting lists for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, January 2010 to May 2011
AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) are state run programs that provide medicines to low-income HIV-positive patients who either have limited or no insurance coverage. ADAPs are essential in providing life-saving medicines to low-income patients, but these programs are threatened by the high costs of treatment.
Dr. Balasubramaniam
On April 19, 2011, Dr Kumariah Balasubramaniam died at his home in Sri Lanka. Dr. Balasubramaniam, known to many as Dr. Bala, was described by Professor Colvin Gooneratne as “one of the most knowledgeable, resolute, articulate, versatile, resilient and in many other ways exceptionally brilliant health activists [the world] has produced.” My tribute to Dr. Bala is in the Huffington Post. Prof. Continue Reading
IIPI side event at WIPO to present on a joint USPTO/IIPI project on “Missed Opportunities Patenting in Developing Countries”
The International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) is holding a side event at WIPO today on the margins of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) on “Missed Opportunities for Patenting in Developing Countries” and “Innovation Opportunities in the Philippines”.
The program flyer for the event notes that this initiative is a “joint project between the Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).”
Whither WHO reform? The future of the World Health Organization
On 11 March 2011, Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), convened an “informal advisory meeting” to review different approaches to “securing greater coherence in global health” and to further WHO’s core function of “the directing and coordinating authority on international health work”. A summary report of this informal advisory meeting and the WHO’s background paper on “Global Health Governance and the WHO” can be found here: /wp-content/uploads/WHOglobalhealthgovernancedraft.pdf
The USTR Special 301 Report, some initial reactions
The USTR Special 301 Report was issued today. The full report is here, the USTR web page on the report is here, and a link to the USTR press release about the report is here. Continue Reading
Senator Wyden releases redacted version of October 29, 2010 CRS report on ACTA
On April 26, 2011, Senator Wyden released a redacted version of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on ACTA that has been the subject to an ongoing Freedom of Information ACT (FOIA) dispute with USTR.
(More context here, here and here).
This is a link to the report that USTR claimed they could not release because of restrictions on its use by Senator Wyden.
/wp-content/uploads/RedactedACTACRSMemotoSenWyden.pdf
2011: Judge rejects USTR claim that negotiating position in FTAA investment chapter is exempt from FOIA
In a somewhat unexpected and encouraging ruling, on April 12, 2011, the District Court for the District of Columbia rejected USTR claims that the release of certain documents relating to a trade negotiations can be shielded from the FOIA.
The case involves a FOIA dispute between the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) over documents revealing the US negotiating position on the Investment Chapter in the proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA).
Confirmation that Obama Administration was “lone hold out” for releasing bracketed ACTA text to the public in Summer of 2010.
On July 1, 2010, William Yue, the Senior Counsel, Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce at the US Department of Commerce, wrote to Joel Blank and John Cobau about the ACTA negotiations. John Cobau was the Chief Counsel for International Commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Joel Blank was International Attorney-Advisor at US Department of Commerce.
A redacted version of this email was the only document released to KEI as part of a larger FOIA request concerning the Department of Commerce role in the ACTA negotiations. A copy is available here:
Continue ReadingAmbassador Kirk’s responses to Senate Finance Committee suggests enforcement of TRIPS-plus data exclusivity measures
Recently, Ambassador Ron Kirk, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) responded to follow up questions from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee regarding the 2011 Trade Agenda. In addition to asserting that the U.S. Congress is not bound by ACTA, the responses suggest USTR desire to establish requirements for the implementation of data exclusivity provisions.