The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) submission (7 February 2014, Docket USTR-2013-0040) to USTR’s 2014 Special 301 Review contains a section on plain packaging policies in the context of the protection of trademarks. Continue Reading
A February 7, 2014 Special 301 submission from the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) asks USTR to bring trade sanctions against China for granting and enforcing “junk patents.” The NFTC also wants patent enforcement to be strickly a private civil remedy (Contrast to the USTR demands that countries implement linkage between drug registration and patents), and complains about China rules that would require employers to more fairly compensation the Chinese inventors they Continue Reading
Attached in the February 7, 2014, KEI Special 301 Submission.
KEI was a web page with more context on the Special 301 reports, including links to several submissions, and all Special 301 Reports from 1989 to 2013 (all that exist), here: /ustr/special301 Continue Reading
Next week, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) will hold a two-day hearing on “Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the US Economy.” The first session will take place Wednesday, February 12, 2014 at 1:00pm and the second session will convene on Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 9:30am. Both sessions will be held at the ITC in the Main Hearing Room (room 101) at 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC.
The following are some quotes by countries, companies, academics and other actors stating, suggesting or implying claiming that drugs not on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (WHO EML) should not be subject to a compulsory license.
Bayer. Political Principles.
http://www.bayer.com/en/innovation-requires-investment.aspx
Political Principles.
Innovation requires investment.
Good ideas must be worthwhile.
Boseley, Sarah. 17 January 2014. “South African pharma firms accused of planning to delay patents law reform.” The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/17/south-african-pharma-accused-delay-patents-law-reform
De Wet, Phillip. 17 January 2014. “Motsoaledi: Big pharma’s ‘satanic’ plot is genocide.” Mail & Guardian. http://mg.co.za/article/2014-01-16-motsoaledi-big-pharmas-satanic-plot-is-genocide/
In a 6 December 2013 letter, Representative Henry Waxman wrote to USTR Ambassador Michael Froman opposing USTR’s proposal of a term of 12 years of exclusivity for biologics in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The letter notes,
[w]hile I have worked closely with Senator Hatch on important health issues, including the generic drug law that we co-authored in 1984, I strongly disagreed that the United States should be proposing twelve years of exclusivity.
USTR recently asked KEI if there were areas in the IP Chapter where we approved of the positions taken by USTR, and the answer is, yes. Given how critical we have been about the text, I will mention a few here.
USTR now “supports a more flexible approach under which partners could retain reasonable patent pre-grant opposition procedures.” This is welcome, and useful.
In a December 2, 2013 letter, Senator Orrin Hatch wrote to USTR’s Michael Froman, suggesting TPP exclude any countries that do not meet “high levels of ambition.” According to Hatch, these high ambitions include agreeing to 12 years of exclusive rights for IPR in biologic drug test data, and the elimination of barriers to cross border data flows (a privacy issue). A copy of the Hatch letter is attached below.
The timing of the Hatch letter is designed to pressure countries meeting in Singapore on December 7-10 in the TPP negotiation, on these two contentious issues.