WTO TRIPS Council (October 2015) to discuss LDC extension for pharmaceuticals, non-violation, review of the Paragraph 6 system

The WTO TRIPS Council meets from Thursday, 15 October 2015 to Friday, 16 October 2015. The hot topics for consideration include agenda item 13 (Request from the LDC Group for an indefinite exemption from WTO IP obligations to provide patents for pharmaceutical products, agenda item 8 (non-violation and situation complaints), agenda item 7 (Review of the Paragraph 6 system) and agenda item 14 (a discussion item co-sponsored by Australia, the European Union and the United States on “Intellectual Property and Innovation: Entrepreneurialism and New Technologies).

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US, AU and CA try to block WTO LDC drug patent waiver because PhRMA’s not happy enough with the TPP

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) meet this week in Geneva (15 October 2015 – 16 October 2015) to decide if the poorest countries on earth are exempt from WTO rules for pharmaceutical patents. The WTO’s TRIPS Council is expected to make a decision in respect of the request of the LDC Group’s request for indefinite exemption from TRIPS obligations on pharmaceutical patents. Continue Reading

Some KEI Tweets regarding TPP IP Chapter

On 9 October 2015, Wikileaks released the final text of the IP chapter in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Jamie Love provided comments via twitter.

https://twitter.com/jamie_love

Updated: 9 October 2015
(In the order posted)

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KEI urges investigation of trade pressures on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in light of Executive Order 13155

Knowledge Ecology International sent letters today (attached to this release), September 21, 2015, to the Office of the General Counsel to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Commerce, asking that they investigate USTR and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the potential violation of an Executive Order issued by Bill Clinton — which prohibits the use of trade pressures to hinder polices related to access to HIV/AIDS medicines in sub-Saharan Africa — in their attempt to stop a request by Least Develop Continue Reading

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Senator Bernie Sanders proposal to expand Veterans access to patented medical inventions

This is a video by Zack Struver about Senator Bernie Sander’s proposal to expand Veterans access to patented medical inventions. The video discusses both the proposal by Senator Sanders to give the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs the authority to use compulsory licenses on patents on medical inventions, including drugs, and the history of “government use” provisions in current U.S. statutes, including 28 U.S.C. 1498, which Sanders proposes modifying.

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KEI comments on MPP consultation regarding mandate to expand into HCV (and other diseases).

These were comments KEI provided to the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), for its consultation on expanding the mandate to include drugs to treat the hepatitis C virus.


To: consultation@medicinespatentpool.org.
Date: August 28, 2015
Re: Comments by James Love on behalf of KEI for the consultation regarding the MPP mandate to expand into HCV (and other diseases).

KEI has submitted joint comments with UAEM in this consultation. Here on behalf of KEI I make a few additional points.

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17 WTO Members (Brazil, China, India, Russia) submit draft Ministerial Decision on Non-Violation and Situation Complaints

On 24 July 2015, 17 Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) tabled a draft Ministerial decision (published by the WTO secretariat on 29 July 2015) on “Non-violation and situation complaints” for “consideration at the 10th Ministerial Conference of the WTO” (Source: IP/C/W/607). The 10th Ministerial Conference of the WTO will take place in Nairobi from 15 December 2015 to 18 December 2015. Continue Reading