Joint Media Release: EU Rejects International Solution to Library and Archive Copyright Problems
[10 Library and Archivist Associations] Discussions by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright & Related Rights (SCCR) broke down in the early hours of Saturday morning 3 May, after the European Union (EU) attempted to block future discussion of copyright laws to aid libraries and archives fulfill their missions in the digital environment. Click here for more.
Department of Homeland Security IP Seizure Statistics Reveal Misplaced Priorities or Misrepresentation
[Jonathan Band] The Administration’s 2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement identifies “protection of public health and safety” as one of its “primary concerns.” A press release issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on March 24, 2014, concerning its intellectual property seizures in fiscal year 2013 suggests that its IP enforcement efforts are largely targeted at preventing the importation of counterfeit products that threaten health and safety. The actual statistics, however, reveal a somewhat different story: that DHS is either exaggerating the danger posed by counterfeit goods to health and safety, or it is not taking that danger seriously enough. Click here for more.
Letter to USTR from Eleven U.S. Civil Society Groups on Pharmaceuticals and the TPP
The following excerpt is taken from a letter sent to USTR Michael Froman by AARP, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, the Alliance for a Just Society, Alliance for Retired Americans, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Consumers Union, Medicare Rights Center, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the National Senior Citizens Law Center. Most of the letter discusses the medicines pricing provisions outside of the IP chapter. The section dealing with TPP and pharmaceutical patents is excerpted below. Click here for more.
Eli Lilly’s NAFTA Dispute Against Canadian Patent Ruling Affecting Other Trade Negotiations
[Mike Palmedo] Eli Lilly’s challenge of Canadian judicial decisions under NAFTA’s Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is leading to concerns about ISDS in other trade negotiations… Today, over 270 health professionals in New Zealand wrote Prime Minister John Key, warning that the Trans Pacific Partnership “threatens the future of health in NZ, by elevating ‘investor rights’ of transnational corporations over the right of the New Zealand people to develop, adapt or improve domestic regulatory policies according to changing health needs.” … Last week, Canada and the European Union had hoped to finalize their Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which they have been negotiating since 2009, but failed to do so. Click here for more.
UNITAID and the Medicines Patent Pool release the new “Patents and Licences on Antiretrovirals” publication
[Medicines Patent Pool]The report provides an overview of the patent and licensing status of a select number of antiretroviral medicines in developing countries. Focusing mainly on ARVs recommended by the World Health Organization, the document analyses also data regarding new ARVs that have either recently obtained regulatory approval or are in Phase III clinical trials. Click here for more.
Aspen Doesn’t Want You to Own Your Own Casebooks
[James Grimmelmann] WoltersKluwer’s Aspen imprint is a leading publisher of law school casebooks. Over the years, it’s built a reputation for high editorial and design standards. Some of its casebooks, like Property, by the late Jesse Dukeminier et al., are perennially popular. I like to tell new Property professors that no one ever got fired for assigning Dukeminier. Unfortunately, Aspen has chosen to use Dukeminier’s Property in launching a disturbing new program: the “Connected Casebook. The official website isn’t live yet, but law professor Josh Blackman blogged about an email he received from Aspen describing the program. My account follows his. Click here for more.
