On 30 July 2020, the World Trade Organization (WTO) convened a formal meeting of the TRIPS Council. The TRIPS Council held discussions on two COVID-19 related topics: agenda item 3 on IP Measures in the Context of COVID-19 and agenda… Continue Reading
Below is a letter from several individuals and groups, asking that NIAID not grant exclusive rights in a HIV patent license for South Africa, India and other low income countries. (PDF version here) The license is to RNAceuticals, a firm… Continue Reading
On July 27, 2020, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regarding the “Prospective Grant of Exclusive Patent Commercialization License: N6, a Novel, Broad, Highly Potent HIV-Specific Antibody and a Broadly Neutralizing Human Anti-HIV… Continue Reading
On Friday, 17 July 2020, South Africa submitted a paper to the World Trade Organization (WTO) TRIPS Council entitled, Intellectual Property and the Public Interest: Beyond Access to Medicines and Medical Technologies Towards a More Holistic Approach To TRIPS Flexibilities.… Continue Reading
On 14 May 2020, Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced he would step down from his post as Director-General of the organization on 31 August 2020; to say this news was a surprise is an understatement… Continue Reading
On July 7, 2020, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) submitted comments to the Federal Register notice for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) “Prospective Grant of an Exclusive Patent License: Development and Commercialization of Fenoterol and Certain Fenoterol Analogues for the… Continue Reading
(Update: The NIH provided a response to our comments on July 16, 2020) On July 6, 2020, Knowledge Ecology International and the Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment submitted joint comments regarding the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) proposed exclusive license… Continue Reading
On Friday, 10 July 2020, the European Parliament adopted a resolution entitled, The EU’s public health strategy post-COVID-19, by 526 votes to 105 and 50 abstentions. This resolution paves the way for the creation of a European Health Union and… Continue Reading
Below is a link to an essay on the use of the phrase “global public goods”. The essay focuses on the three papers Paul Samuelson wrote in the 1950s that are often used, and misused, to define public goods. Samuelson’s… Continue Reading
The second session of the WIPO Conversation on IP and AI is being held over three days from July 7 to 9, 2020. WIPO’s web page on the event is here. I had submitted comments earlier to both WIPO and… Continue Reading