Negotiating Text, EU/India FTA (BTIA)

This is a copy of the negotiating text for the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), also referred to as the India/EU FTA. It does not include Article 6, which I assume concerns patents, or have any text for Article 9 on Geographical Indications. The text includes country positions. We are not certain of the date of this text. KEI has some commentary at /node/1692

Consolidated draft India-EU FTA (BTIA)

IPR chapter

Art. 1 – Definition [Agreed]

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KEI on Medicines Patent Pool license (and MoU) with ViiV Healthcare

KEI comment on the Medicines Patent Pool license and MoU with ViiV Healthcare
28 February 2013

FYI: James Love (james.love@keionline.org, +1.202.361.3040), Krista Cox (krista.cox@keionline.org, +1.202.332.2670) or Thiru Balasubramaniam (thiru@keionline.org).

The 27 February 2013 agreements between the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture of GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, and Shionogi will expand access to affordable pediatric formulas for HIV/AIDS.

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Comments on the the Bayer appeal of the compulsory license on Nexavar patents, February 17, 2013

These are KEI’s February 17, 2013 comments on the the Bayer appeal of the compulsory license on Nexavar patents.


Comments on the the Bayer appeal of the compulsory license on Nexavar patents.

February 17, 2013

The dispute is Bayer Corporation v Natco Pharma Limited, and is being heardbefore the Intellectual Property Appellate Board At Chennai (O.R.A. no. 35/PT/2012).

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Abbott and Senator Hatch lambast Global Fund’s policy on generics and compulsory licensing

On 13 April 2011, Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican-Utah) wrote a letter to then-Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton complaining about Global Fund’s policy on generic procurement and compulsory licensing. With respect to procurement, Sen. Hatch asserted that Global Fund monies were used to procure generic drugs “at unnecessary costs in recipient countries” while branded drugs (all Abbott products) were were available at a lower cost. Continue Reading

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The Blur Banff proposal

Notes on the Blur Banff proposal* KEI Research Note 2013:1 February 1, 2013 This is a brief note on the Blur/Banff proposal for a system of decentralized decision making and competitive intermediaries to provide money to support recorded music that… Continue Reading

Australia, Chile and New Zealand reply to UN Rapporteur for Right to Health on TPP complaints

KEI has recently learned that 6 of 9 countries ignored a UN Special Rapporteur request to respond to the March 22, 2011 complaint regarding the TPP. We are also disappointed in the comments from the three that did respond. The UN process for dealing with such complaints is somewhat bureaucratic and secretive. Among the three countries that did respond, Australia, Chile and New Zealand, all defended the secrecy of the TPP negotiating text and asserted that the TPP would not violate the right to health. Continue Reading

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CCIA,EFF, IFLA, KEI, ISOC, CIS views on the broadcasting treaty July 23, 2012

Once again a diverse group of NGOS spoke clearly against the treaty for broadcasting organizations. To quote CCIA “While the world’s governments can certainly create legal instruments with any language in them that they wish, surely granting copyright in objects that don’t exist would be difficult to justify to the wider public”. Well, the delegates are now back into informal sessions so the public in fact does not even know why they still work on more rights, (more road blocks) to solve signal piracy, already a crime I believe in most countries!

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Statement of Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) on the Mark-up of FDA Reauthorization Package

This was the 3,500 word statement of Senator Bernie Sanders during Senate HELP committee markup of the PDUFA legislation. The statement covers a lot of ground, and illustrates why consumer groups love Bernie Sanders, while making one wonder why other Senators have not been more supportive of the consumer protection issues that Sanders discusses. Here are some highlights:

  • The proposal for a new extended monopoly for antibiotics and antifungal drugs is a “huge giveaway” that will lead to high prices and harm consumers.
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Senator Harkin (D-IA) sends letter to President Obama supporting a WIPO treaty for the visually impaired

On Friday, March 30, 2012, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee sent a letter to President Obama supporting an international treaty for persons who are visually impaired or have other disabilities. The letter urges the Obama administration to achieve several goals in such a treaty, including robust minimum standards that do not diminish the rights provided for under U.S. Continue Reading