PIJIP to Co-Host Hybrid Event: Promoting Access to Knowledge and the Right to Research
[PIJIP] To mark World Intellectual Property Day on 26 April 2023, the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), Strathmore University, the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP), American University Washington College of Law, and Electronic Information for Libraries, in cooperation with the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), have organized a workshop, Promoting Access to Knowledge and the Right to Research. Click here for more.
On the Appeal of Drug Patent Challenges
[Charles Duan] Abstract: … In this Article, I review the universe of administrative challenges on drug patents that have proceeded through appeal to the Federal Circuit. I find that a large fraction of patents challenged this way are deemed unpatentable at both the agency and appellate levels, and that administrative cancellation of drug patents correlates closely with subsequent generic drug competition and reduced drug prices. The data suggests that these effects are not due to bias against patents, but rather because of the expertise of administrative adjudicators and the remarkably low quality of the drug patents challenged. Indeed, I find that nuanced aspects of these administrative proceedings, particularly at the appellate level, in fact are biased in the opposite direction — against patent challengers. These findings suggest that inter partes review and other administrative challenge proceedings likely serve an important purpose for lowering the costs of medicines, and those proceedings could potentially be improved. Click here for more.
Call for Papers: Society for Economic Research on Copyright Issues (SERCI) Annual Conference
[SERCI] The 2023 SERCI Annual Congress will be held in Bournmouth (UK), under the local organization of Ruth Towse, on July 6th and 7th of 2023. The SERCI Invited Guest Lecture will be delivered by Prof. Abhinay Muthoo (National Institute of Economic and Social Research). Proposals of papers to present at the congress are hereby formally invited. At this stage, only a detailed abstract of the paper is required, and should be sent as an email attachment to richard@serci.org. The deadline for receipt of proposals is Monday May 1st. Successful authors will be notified before May 15th, and full papers will be requested by June 15th. Proposals are invited on any aspect or topic that relates copyright to economics, such as (for example, but not restricted to) optimal legal copyright parameters, the economic effects of copyright, models of copyright licensing, theoretical and empirical analyses of copyright policy, copyright and creativity, copyright and the macroeconomy, and new models of protection of creative works. Click here for more.
Third Joint Academic Opinion on the South African Copyright Amendment Bill [B13D-2017]
[Sanya Samtani, Klaus Beiter, Sean Flynn, Caroline B. Ncube, Chijioke Okorie, Desmond Oriakhogba, Andrew Rens, and Tobias Schonwetter] Abstract: South Africa is in the process of reforming its copyright law, attempting to update and align it with constitutional rights and existing and prospective international treaty obligations. A coalition of copyright, human rights, and constitutional law experts have been engaging in the ongoing national and provincial public participation processes. This working paper chronicles the law reform process until April 2023, covering related constitutional court litigation, and then goes on to set out the submissions made on behalf of the group of experts. The process offers insights into the different but crucial roles played by the legislature and the judiciary in aligning copyright with the constitution. It also provides valuable comparative lessons for other jurisdictions seeking to reform their copyright laws. Click here for more.
Updated TRIPS Flexibilities Database
[Ellen t’Hoen] In January 2023, a number of cystic-fibrosis patient organisations asked the governments of Brazil, India, South Africa and Ukraine to invoke compulsory licensing and to allow the supply of generic versions of cystic fibrosis treatments. These cases are now documented in our newly updated TRIPS Flexibilities Database, and we will continue to monitor the outcome of the requests. The TRIPS Flexibilities Database tracks the use of certain provisions of the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement for the purpose of promoting and protecting public health and in particular access to medicine. The TRIPS provisions we track include compulsory licensing (Article 31 and Article 31 bis), the use of transition provisions for least developed country members of the WTO that allows them not to grant or enforce pharmaceutical patents until 1 January 2033 (Doha Declaration par. 7), and exceptions to patents (Art. 30). The flexibility that TRIPS offers is broader than these articles but the provisions we track are the ones that can and are being used in the procurement of medicines. Click here for more on MedicinesLawAndPolicy.org.
New PIJIP Working Paper by James Love: The Trouble With the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty
[James Love] Abstract: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized UN body that provides forums to discuss intellectual property policies and practices, provides technical assistance to its member states and engages in norm setting. Since 1997, WIPO has engaged in a series of activities to evaluate proposals advocated by some companies that are engaged in broadcasting. There is yet another effort to bring this proposal to a diplomatic conference. This article (i) provides background on the negotiations including the evolving rationales for broadcast right; (ii) describes the differences between the thin temporary signal protection model and the far more problematic vision of a layer of durable post-fixation rights; (iii) highlights the failure of WIPO to undertake and evaluate any economic analysis of the impact of a treaty on the distribution of income between countries and between qualifying broadcasting organizations and authors, performers and audiences, and (iv) identifies the most troubling features of the current proposal. Click here for more.
Steps Forward for Copyright Exceptions and Limitations for Education and Research at the WIPO SCCR 43 Agenda
[Deborah De Angelis] From March 13th to 17th, 2023, the 43rd meeting of the WIPO SCCR was held in Geneva, where significant advancements have been achieved by the Committee with the adoption of a work program on exceptions and limitations based on the Proposal by the African Group for a Draft Work Program on Exceptions and Limitations (SCCR/43/8). The program is supported by the Access to Knowledge Coalition (A2K), to which Communia Association and Creative Commons Italy Chapter are members together with numerous other associations representing educators, researchers, students, libraries, archives, museums, other knowledge users and creative communities in the world. Click here for more.
A Great Week at WIPO
[Teresa Hackett] The 43rd session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), that sets international copyright law and policy, took place in Geneva from 13 – 17 March 2023. More than 35 civil society advocates from five continents (Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America), members of the recently formed coalition on Access to Knowledge (A2K), participated in the meeting. The results were positive. I was there throughout the week representing EIFL with Dick Kawooya, University of South Carolina, USA, and expert advisor Professor Anthony Kakooza, Makerere University, Uganda. Here are the highlights. Click here for more.
Artificial Intelligence, Copyright Infringement and Protection – A Legal Quagmire?
[Hanani Hlomani and Andrew Rens] The rise of AI tools such as ChatGPT raises new and complex legal questions about copyright. As technology continues to advance, South Africa must ensure that it is adapting its legal frameworks to keep up with these changes. A bill currently being debated in Parliament offers a timely opportunity to update the law. Click here for more on the Daily Maverick.
Science Held Hostage: How Pharma Is Using mRNA Vaccine Contracts With Government to Delay Future Innovation
[Emily Bass] Clinical trials that are crucial to future pandemic prevention and current responses to SARS CoV-2 are being delayed by pharmaceutical companies. These companies are able to use government contracts specifying when, where and how current vaccines owned by governments can be used to delay and defer access to these vaccines for research. Current SARS CoV-2 vaccines are a vital part of research for next-generation products such as nasal vaccines and pan-coronavirus vaccines. Next generation candidates need to be tested in animals who have been vaccinated with presently available vaccines to evaluated safety and effectiveness in the context of prior immunization. However, for over two years, the terms of government contracts with industry have had the inadvertent effect of delaying sometimes effectively blocking access to these products for research purposes. Over the course of a six-month research effort, PrEP4All spoke with US government agencies, research groups, private philanthropy and industry to better understand the causes and consequences of this challenge. Click here for more.