Two Chapters in Building Legal Literacies for Text Data Mining: “International and Cross-Border Copyright” and “Technological Protection Measures”

[Aneeta Mathur-Ashton] PIJIP Director Sean Flynn and Loyola University of Chicago Professor Matthew Sag have coauthored two chapters in the new open access book Building Legal Literacies for Text Data Mining. Their first chapter, “International and Cross-Border Copyright,” details international copyright exceptions that impact what researchers conducting AI can or cannot legally do. Next, “Technological Protection Measures,” details how Technological Protection Measures may impact researchers’ ability to do AI research. Click here for more.

American University Assumes Stewardship of the Low Carbon Patent Pledge

[PIJIP] The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) at American University Washington College of Law is pleased to announce that effective August 4th, 2021, it has assumed stewardship of the Low Carbon Patent Pledge (lowcarbonpatentpledge.org). PIJIP is hosting the pledge in partnership with the Program on Intellectual Property Law and Policy at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. Helios IP is endorsing the Low Carbon Patent Pledge and provides their IP Tools solution for visitors to view details of the pledged patents. Click here for more.

Promotion of TRIPS-Plus Intellectual Property Provisions Through the Special 301 Review: How Did It Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

[Mike Palmedo] This post introduces my chapter the Special 301 Report in the newly-published book Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines.  The chapter, titled “Unilateral Norm Setting Using Special 301” focuses on Special 301 listings from 2009 to 2020 related to intellectual property policies that can be used to access generic medicines. This post will also describe the Special 301 listings in the 2021 Special 301 Report, which was released after the Covid-19 pandemic had taken hold. There were some differences in the 2021 Report pertaining to specific TRIPS flexibilities useful in the fight against Covid-19. However, much of the 2021 Report was similar to the reports released before the pandemic – the Report still criticized countries for policies that could help the fight against Covid-19. Click here for more.

The Proposed TRIPS Waiver and the Pharmaceutical Industry’s Concerns About Counterfeit COVID-19 Vaccines 

[Muhammad Zaheer Abbas] Submission to the Australian Parliament’s Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Inquiry into Vaccine Related Fraud and Security Risks – Executive Summary: Australia needs to support the proposal of temporarily waiving intellectual property protections to scale up production and supply of vaccines and other COVID-19 related treatments and diagnostics. The Brand-name pharmaceutical industry’s claim that the proposed TRIPS waiver will result in the proliferation of counterfeit vaccines and treatments is not supported by empirical evidence. Click here for more.

SECTION27 Set to Hammer Home Importance of Modernising Copyright Law in South Africa

[Linda Daniels] In their latest submission to Parliament, the public interest law center SECTION27, has made clear that the old Apartheid era Copyright Act of 1978 must give way to the Copyright Amendment Bill which fulfils constitutional obligations such as rights to education and freedom to receive and impart information, among others. The submission answers Parliament’s call for public consultation on specific clauses of the delayed Copyright Amendment Bill (Cab) such as; Clause 13 which pertains to exceptions to copyright for educational purposes including fair use; clause 19B which concerns general exceptions around the operability of computer programs under copyright and clause 20 which addresses exceptions to copyright to preserve and protect collections held in libraries, archives, museums and galleries. Click here for more on dailymaverick.co.za.

See also: Members of the Global Expert Network on Copyright User Rights to Testify in Support of South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill. Link.

The Government of Canada Launches Consultation on a Modern Copyright Framework for AI and the Internet of Things

[Canadian Govt. Press Release] The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring the Copyright Act remains responsive to modern realities and that Canada’s copyright framework continues to be effective in fostering innovation and investment as new technologies develop. To do so, Canada’s copyright framework should support the changing needs of artists, innovators and consumers in a high-tech world. Building on the stakeholder engagement and committee reports from the 2019 Statutory Review of the Copyright Act, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, are launching a public consultation today on a modern copyright framework for artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT)… Participants have until September 17, 2021, to share their input. Click here for more.

Addressing Exclusivity Issues During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

[Michael S. Sinha, Sven Bostyn, and Timo Minssen] Abstract: …This chapter addresses exclusivity issues, with a particular emphasis on regulatory exclusivities for vaccines and therapeutics. We begin with a basic overview of the current regulatory exclusivity landscape in Europe and the US, followed by a discussion of current developments in COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. Next, we describe the influence of these technological developments on debates surrounding regulatory exclusivities while describing their relationship to other forms of exclusivities. From these assessments, we draw some lessons for market exclusivity, innovation, and access during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Click here for more.

REMINDER: Global Congress #IPWeek2021 – Call for Proposals

From July 26 to September 10, the call for proposals will be open for the collaborative agenda of #IPWeek2021, Intellectual Property Week, the Public Interest, and COVID-19: learnings, discoveries, and challenges. This new version of Intellectual Property, Public Interest and COVID-19 Week will address the lessons and discoveries that the COVID-19 pandemic left to society, and future challenges in the post-pandemic period, in the relationship framework between intellectual property and the public interest. Click here for more.