Analysis of WIPO SCCR 41 Agenda: Day 1, Broadcast Treaty
[Sean Flynn] The WIPO SCCR 41 Agenda asks for comments on possible next steps on the discussion of the Broadcast Treaty proposed Chair’s text. One needed next step is to address the Limitations and Exceptions provision. This provision currently is more limited than the exceptions provided under the Rome Convention and fails to incorporate any of the priorities of the Action Plans on Limitations and Exceptions on preservation, online uses, and cross border uses for libraries, archives, museums, education, research, and people with disabilities. This provision requires significant expansion to ensure that the Broadcast Treaty is balanced and does not harm the public interest. Click here for more.
Letter from Seven Civil Society Groups to USTR Supporting LDC Request to Extent TRIPS Waiver for as Long as They Remain LDCs
[Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, Fight for the Future, IP Justice, Library Copyright Alliance, Library Futures, Public Knowledge, and the Software Preservation Network] We urge the United States to support the request of Least Developed Countries (“LDCs”) to the TRIPS Council of the World Trade Organization (IP/C/W/668) for a transition period from implementing the TRIPS Agreement for as long as they remain LDCs. The current transition period is due to expire on July 1, 2021. Click here for more.
TRIPS Flexibilities and TRIPS-Plus Provisions in the RCEP Chapter on Intellectual Property: How Much Policy Space is Retained?
[Vitor Henrique Pinto Ido] … This paper provides a broad overview of the RCEP agreement and discusses the details of the intellectual property (IP) Chapter. Significantly, it does not contain substantive TRIPS-plus provisions that undermine public health in developing countries—although it does contain such provisions in other areas such as copyrights, trademarks, and IP enforcement. Click here for more.
Trade Secrets Protection and Vaccines: The Role of Medicine Regulatory Agencies
[K.M. Gopakumar, Chetali Rao, and Sangeeta Shashikant] The TRIPS Waiver proposal for dealing with COVID-19 covers trade secrets, and this Briefing Paper discusses the rationale for including this category of intellectual property in the scope. The authors conclude as follows: “The current pandemic situation demands rapid diversification of manufacturing and scale-up of .supply of vaccines. Under the current regulatory framework, the demand for safety and efficacy data, especially Phase III trial data, delays the entry of follow-on vaccines. In this context, lifting trade secrets protection and allowing the sharing of regulatory dossiers containing safety and efficacy data as well as information about the manufacturing process, especially with other regulatory agencies and potential manufacturers, can accelerate the production and approval of follow-on non-originator vaccines. Further, funding agencies which possess some of this information also can disclose it to potential manufacturers if a waiver is in place.” Click here for more on the Third World Network site.
Why the TRIPS Waiver Should Include More than Just Vaccines
[Rachel Thrasher] Nearly eight months after an initial proposal from India and South Africa, the United States surprised the world by making a public declaration of support for a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Waiver for COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Since then, proponents have been advocating for a waiver that is sufficiently broad in scope, coverage and duration to do the work of increasing equitable access to vaccines as well as other COVID-19 related products. Click here for more on the Boston University GDP Center site.
Designing a Freedom of Expression-Compliant Framework for Moral Rights in the EU: Challenges and Proposals
[Christophe Geiger and Elena Izyumenko] … The argument of this chapter is that, despite a relative lack of attention towards the effects of moral rights on the freedom of expression of others, moral rights, if applied in an unlimited way, might impede users’ freedoms even to a greater extent than economic rights of copyright holders. The problem thus deserves further scrutiny and solutions need to be advanced to guarantee that uses of copyright-protected works that are essential for a democratic society are not unduly hindered by moral rights. Click here for more.
