Watch Online – Global Congress Week of Intellectual Property, the Public Interest, and Covid-19

Last week, Fundación Karisma hosted the online Global Congress Week of Intellectual Property, the Public Interest and Covid-19. Members of the Global Congress community held 30 sessions over the course of the week. Karisma has posted the sessions to its YouTube channel. Click here to view them. 

Letter to President Ramaphosa on the Proposed Covid-19 Waiver, by South Africa and India at the World Trade Organisation, From 43 South Africa-Affiliated Academics, Researchers and Teachers

South Africa, along with India, has adopted a ground-breaking position at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with the tabling of the proposal for a “Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19”. The proposal will be on the agenda of the WTO TRIPS Council on 15-16 October 2020. As a group of academics, researchers and teachers affiliated to various South African institutions, we declare our strong support for this proposal. Click here for more. 

See also: 

  • Brook Baker. Action at the WTO Is Needed to Accelerate Research, Development, Manufacturing and supply of Medical Products to Combat COVID-19: Proposal from India and South Africa. Link. 
  • Ellen t’Hoen. COVID-19 Crisis and WTO: Why India and South Africa’s Proposal on Intellectual Property is Important. Link.  
  • Viviana Munoz Tellez. Action at the WTO Is Needed to Accelerate Research, Development, Manufacturing and Supply of Medical Products to Combat Covid-19: Proposal from India and South Africa. Link.

Justices Display Concern About Monopolization and Disruption in Google v. Oracle Argument

[Jonathan Band] In yesterday’s oral argument in Google v. Oracle, several Justices expressed serious concerns that an Oracle victory could lead to legal monopolies over de facto standards and serious disruption of settled expectations in the software industry… Significantly, all the Justices understood that the case concerned only the lawfulness of Google’s use of the declarations in the Java application programming interface (“API”), as opposed to the copyrightability of computer programs more generally. Click here for more.

How to License Article 17? Exploring the Implementation Options for the New EU Rules on Content Sharing Platforms

[Martin Husovec and João Quintais] Abstract: Article 17 of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive is a major Internet policy experiment of our decade. The provision fundamentally changes copyright regulation of certain digital platforms. However, the precise nature of art. 17 is far from clear. How does it fit the existing structure of EU copyright law and doctrine? How can the Member States implement it? These are the questions at the heart of this article. Click here for more.

The Draft Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA): Annotations on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions

[Wend Wendland] The continent-wide free trade zone created by the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (the AfCFTA) has the potential to catalyse intra-African trade, boost economic development and lift tens of millions of Africans out of poverty. From a trade and development perspective, the AfCFTA advances a fresh trade model focused on inclusive and sustainable development. In recognizing the centrality of intellectual property (IP) protection in today’s economy, and the benefits of continental cooperation on IP, the AfCFTA will include a Protocol on IP, an early draft of which has been published. Finalization of the IP Protocol holds the promise of a home-grown, single, coherent and Africa-centred IP regime. This could harmonize the fragmented IP landscape of today while safeguarding national policy space on key issues, strengthen the hands of African negotiators in international forums and even help propel currently deadlocked international negotiations towards the finish line. This blog post examines the elements of the draft Protocol related to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions (expressions of folklore). It is too soon to tell whether the IP Protocol will realise its promise and advance the policy objectives, principles and transformative potential of the AfCFTA. Future drafts of the Protocol will be followed closely by “Multilateral Matters”. Click here for more. 

The TRIPS Council on 15-16 October Should Agree to Extend the Transition Period that Exempts Least Developed Countries from Implementation of the WTO TRIPS Agreement 

[Nirmalya Syam.] The least developed country (LDC) members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have submitted a request to the upcoming session of the TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Council for an extension of the transition period available to LDC members under Article 66.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, for as long as they remain LDCs, and for an additional period of 12 years following their official graduation from the LDC category as determined by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Click here for more.

Implementation Update: French Parliament Gives Carte Blanche, While the Netherlands Correct Course

[Communia Association] Back in January of this year, we noted how both the Netherlands and France (at that point the only Member States that had presented proposals to implement Article 17) had proposed selective implementations of Article 17 that ignored crucial user rights safeguards. A lot has happened since January, but yesterday both Member States took further steps in their national implementations. And this time the two Member States are moving in opposite directions: While the Dutch government has reacted to criticism from civil society and members of Parliament by fixing some of the most obvious shortcomings of its implementation law, the 2nd chamber of the French Parliament has adopted a law that gives the French government the power to implement Article 17 (and the rest of the provisions of the DSM directive) however it sees fit. Click here for more.