Open A.I.R. Releases Two New Publications on Innovation in Africa
Last week, Open A.I.R. released two new publications at the combined Global Congress on Intellectual Property IP and the Public Interest and Open A.I.R. Conference on Innovation and IP in Africa. Innovation & Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa, edited by Jeremy de Beer, Chris Armstrong, Chidi Oguamanam and Tobias Schonwetter, is a “volume of real-world case studies examines the ways that innovators in diverse African settings share a common appreciation for collaboration and openness.” Knowledge & Innovation in Africa: Scenarios for the Future, authored by Shirin Elahi and Jeremy de Beer with Dick Kawooya, Chidi Oguamanan, Nagla Rizk and the Open A.I.R. Network, “grapples with the complex and dynamic forces shaping innovation systems over the next two decades. It distills three different but equally plausible future scenarios.” Click here for more from Open A.I.R.
Global Congress Endorses Principles for International Intellectual Property; Criticizes Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)
[Sean Flynn] Researchers, scholars and policy specialists from over 40 countries drafted and endorsed a declaration of Fundamental Public Interest Principles for International Intellectual Property Negotiations that are starkly at odds with some trade agreement negotiations. The Principles were adopted at the Third Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest which met in Cape Town, South Africa December 7-13, 2013. The principles are strongly critical of the process and presumed substance of the negotiation of intellectual property provisions in the ongoing Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Click here for more.
For more on the Congress and Conference, see accounts by Isaac Rutenberg and William New.
Medicines Patent Pool and Bristol-Myers Squibb Sign Agreement to Further Expand Access to a Key HIV Medicine
[MPP Press release] The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb have signed a licensing agreement to increase access to a key HIV medicine, atazanavir, in 110 developing countries. These countries represent 88.5 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries…This is the MPP’s first agreement covering a World Health Organization (WHO)-preferred second-line therapy. The WHO estimates there will be over 1 million people on second-line treatment by 2016, and many more will need access to these therapies. Click here for more.
Brazil Takes Steps Aimed At More Balanced IP Rights
[William New] The Brazilian Patent Office has a new president: Otávio Brandelli, according to an official announcement. Also today, the nation’s new amendment on collective management went into effect… According to Allan Rocha de Souza, a copyright and cultural policy professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brandelli is a career diplomat with a history for promoting a “balanced” perspective between different stakeholders. Click here for the story on IP Watch.
Free Trade, Gangnam Style: The Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement
[Matthew Rimmer] On the 5th December 2013, Australia and Korea announced that they had finalised a new free trade agreement. Is it a fair trade fairytale? Or is it a dirty deal done dirt cheap? It is hard to tell, because the respective governments have not yet published the text of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA). There has been much debate in the Australian Parliament over the transparency of the trade agreement; the scope of market access provided under the deal; and the impact of the investment chapter, with an investor-state dispute settlement clause. KAFTA foreshadows the approach of the new Conservative Government in Australia to other trade deals – such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Click here for more.
Poland’s Digital School e-Textbooks Program: A Year and a Half Later
[Alek Tarkowski] In 2012, Poland launched the “Digital School” program, an initiative to expand the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in K-12 schools. This program includes an OER component that is the first of its kind: a 3-year-long project to create a set of 18 core curriculum e-textbooks for K-12 schooling in Poland, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Click here for more.
Commission Announces Public Consultation on the Review of EU Copyright Rules
[Paul Keller] Last week Thursday the European Commission launched its much anticipated public consultation on the review of the EU copyright rules. This consultation is the first visible sign of the second track of the Commission’s attempt to modernise the EU rules (the first track consisted of the rather unsuccessful Licenses for Europe stakeholder dialogue). In the words of the Commission the focus of the consultation is on “ensuring that the EU copyright regulatory framework stays fit for purpose in the digital environment to support creation and innovation, tap the full potential of the Single Market, foster growth and investment in our economy and promote cultural diversity.” Click here for more.
