Final WIPO Exceptions Seminar Endorses Exceptions, But Leaves Stakeholders Complaining

[William New] The last in a series of World Intellectual Property Organization regional seminars on copyright limitations and exceptions concluded with broad agreement that exceptions in Latin America are inadequate to cater to the needs of education and research in the digital world, including through the work of libraries, archives and museums, according to participants. But complaints continued from beneficiary communities that the discussion in the seminars was steered away from the topic of how international law could help remedy the problems identified. Click here for more.

Patent Pooling to Increase Access to Essential Medicines

[Esteban Burrone, Dzintars Gotham, Andy Gray, Kees de Joncheere, Nicola Magrini, Yehoda M Martei, Charles Gorea & Marie Paule Kienya]… In 2016, the Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other stakeholders called for the patent pool to expand its mandate to a broader range of patented essential medicines.[5,6] Here, we outline the findings of a released feasibility study on expanding the patent pool’s mandate,[7] laying out the public health case for adapting its model to disease areas beyond the initial three focus diseases. In May 2018, the patent pool acted on the results of the feasibility study and expanded its mandate to include other patented essential medicines. Click here for more.

Decolonising Copyright: Building Our Creative and Information Economy

[AfroChic] On the 7th of August 2019 RecreateSA convened a seminar in association with the South African Guild of Actors, the University of the Witwatersrand’s Library, Blind SA, the University of Cape Town’s IP Unit, the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union, Washington College of Law’s Programme on Information Justice and Intellectual Property and the University of the Witwatersrand’s Institute for Social and Economic Research. The seminar was entitled “Decolonising Copyright: Building our Creative and Information Economy” and took place in the Senate Room of the Solomon Mahlangu Building. Click here for more.

See also:

  • Videos of ReCreate South Africa’s Decolonising Copyright events
  • Columns on the events and on South African copyright reform generally
    • Refilwe Moloto’s interview with Professor Keyan Tomaselli on the legislation. (Link)
    • Sanya Samtani in the Mail & Guardian. The new draft copyright Bill could help unlock the doors of learning and culture. (Link)
    • The Copyright Amendment Bill: Where to From Here? Aluta Continua! (Link)
    • Critics of South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill Gather. (Link)


Antivirales de Acción Directa Para la Hepatitis C: Evolución de Los Criterios de Patentabilidad y Su Impacto en La Salud Pública en Colombia

[Francisco A. Rossi B. and Claudia M. Vargas P.] … En Octubre de 2015, la fundación IFARMA solicitó que todos los medicamentos antivirales para la hepatitis C, utilizables para curar una infección crónica transmisible potencialmente mortal, fueran declarados de interés público, dado que su precio amenazaba la sostenibilidad financiera del sistema de salud. Una declaración de interés público para estos medicamentos sería el primer paso para la emisión de licencias obligatorias. Este trabajo se ha llevado a cabo para identificar las patentes existentes en Colombia para estos productos, su alcance y sus consecuencias, en el marco de una discusión sobre la transparencia del sistema de patentes y la evolución del rigor con que se evalúan las solicitudes y se conceden las patentes. Click here for more on Southcentre.int.

Are Foreigners Treated Equally Under TRIPS?

[Gaétan de Rassenfosse, Paul H. Jensen, T’Mir Julius, Alfons Palangkaraya, and Elizabeth Webster] Abstract: The TRIPS Agreement, administered by the World Trade Organisation, ensures the smooth functioning of the international patent system. It promises among others that local and foreign firms are treated in the same, non-discriminatory manner. We test for whether national treatment has been upheld in the five largest patent offices and document the existence of a systematic bias against foreign firms in patent examination decisions. We find that filing international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty can reduce some of the bias. Click here for more.

SPARC Urges Department of Justice to Block Merger between Cengage and McGraw-Hill

[SPARC] Today, SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) submitted a detailed filing to the U.S. Department of Justice urging federal antitrust enforcers to block the proposed merger between college textbook publishing giants Cengage and McGraw-Hill Education. The merger would create the largest publisher of college course materials in the United States and the world’s second largest education publisher overall. Click here for more.