IP Enforcement Roundup

Second Standing Commission of the Mexican Congress Rejects ACTA

The Second Standing Commission of the Mexican Congress has approved a resolution introduced by Sen. Francisco Javier Castellón Fonseca urging the President to not sign ACTA. Furthermore, senators from Mexico’s National Action Party (PAN), assured Mexican civil society in a consultation that ACTA will not be approved by the legislature during this administration.  Click here for more.

Legislation on Unauthorized Streaming of Copyrighted Material Clears Senate Judiciary Committee

S. 978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 16.  A joint statement by the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the National Association of Theatre Owners applauded the Committee for approving the legislation, which would “classify the illegal online streaming of copyrighted content a felony.”  Click here for their press release.

UN General Assembly Declaration Urges Safeguards Against Abuses of IP Enforcement Measures

On June 8, the UN General Assembly issued a 17-page document, the “Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: Intensifying our Efforts to Eliminate HIV/AIDS,” which includes statements related to access to medicines and the enforcement of IP.  Paragraph 71 (b) urges countries to “apply measures and procedures for enforcing intellectual property rights in such a manner as to avoid creating barriers to the legitimate trade of medicines, and to provide for safeguards against the abuse of such measures and procedures.”  The document also urges “the use, to the full” of TRIPS flexibilities available to promote access to medicines. Click here for more.

TPP Negotiators Meet in Vietnam, Civil Society and US Generics Firms Issue Statements on IP

Vietnam hosted the seventh round of Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations from June 20-24 in Ho Chi Minh City.  The US Trade Representative reported that negotiators “reviewed new proposals that the United States and other TPP countries tabled this round; including on intellectual property, transparency, telecommunications, customs, environment; and advanced their efforts to consolidate the various proposals that the countries put forward in previous rounds.”  On June 23, the Asia Pacific Network of Positive People issued a statement criticizing the U.S. for abandoning its recent pledge at the U.N. to protect TRIPS flexibilities necessary for access to medicines in developing countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia.  The US Generic Pharmaceutical Association wrote President Obama asking that the IP provisions in the TPP adhere to the 2007 trade policy compromise reached between Congressional Democrats and the Bush administration, and arguing that “it is premature to include provisions relating to biologics in any trade agreement.”  Click here for more.

IP and Agriculture Concerns Deadlock Trade Talks Between the EU and Mercosur

Disagreements over intellectual property and agricultural provisions (as well as concerns over the unfolding EU debt crisis) have led to an impasse in trade negotiations between the EU and the Latin American trade bloc Mercosur.  Latin American countries object to TRIPS plus provisions on patents, copyrights, data exclusivity, and border measures proposed by the EU.  According to Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, “intellectual property concerns primarily come from Brasilia, which fears further restrictions will inhibit their production of generic drugs and their ability to break patents in the occasion of national health crises.”  The EU proposal would also require the protection of geographical indications.  Click here for more.

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