[Fundación Karisma] The organizers of the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest will host an #IPWeek October 25-29, 2021. A call-for-proposals will be open soon, and in this edition, we will include a call for creative pieces about the intellectual property / public interest relationship in a post-pandemic world.
[Sean Flynn] At the 40th Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, the Secretariat released a Report (SCCR/40/2) summarizing the year of work on the Action Plans on Limitations and Exceptions. That Report is subject to comment by Member States. This Note provides analysis of the Report that may be useful to Delegates and stakeholders participating in the meetings of the SCCR. The Report helpfully summarizes a large amount of agreement about the main problems and solutions that need to be addressed by the international system. These problems include a lack of exceptions in a majority of countries for: Preservation for cultural heritage; Communications in online learning and research; Cross border uses for education, research, and the activities of libraries, archives and museums.
[Klaus Beiter] Abstract: ...This Article will demonstrate the significance of extraterritorial state obligations (ETOs) for IP law. It focuses on the issue of how the right to education under international huan rights law prescribes requirements that international copyright law must comply with to facilitate access to textbooks in schools and universities. Drawing on the expert Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 2011, and applying the well-known tripartite typology of state obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights, the ETOs concept will be introduced and twenty typical ETOs under the right to education in the international copyright context that safeguard access to printed textbooks will be identified. A final central aim of the Article will be to explain how exactly, within international law as a unified system, ETOs can lead to a “constitutionalization” of IP law. Although the discussion relates to issues of accessibility in developing countries more generally, the dire situation of access to textbooks in education in Africa strongly motivated this research.
[Joint letter signed by 20 civil society groups] Dear Ambassador Tai: Congratulations on your confirmation as United States Trade Representative. We write to request that the Biden-Harris Administration return to the Obama-Biden Administration policy of protecting and promoting fair use rights in international copyright policy. The Trump Administration abandoned this policy, and took the contrary position of pressuring countries such as South Africa to abandon fair use proposals. The undersigned organizations, representing consumers, librarians, archivists, educators, and creators, urge this Administration to once again prioritize fair use as an engine of equity. In particular, the United States should praise, not punish, other countries that seek to incorporate fair use in their national copyright laws.
Over 250 organizations and prominent researchers and experts, representing millions of researchers, educators, libraries, and support organizations globally, call for reduction of copyright barriers to COVID-19 prevention, containment and treatment. Their statement, released today, calls particular attention to the need to include copyright rules within the waiver. Supporters of the Statement are holding an online public event and press conference Monday March 22, 9am EDT / 1pm UTC.
A group of 27 civil society organizations has drafted a statement to the World Trade Organization (WTO) highlighting the need to overcome copyright barriers to ensure an equitable response to COVID-19. The statement is open for endorsements from both organizations and from individuals until March 18. It will be formally submitted to the WTO on March 22.
[Christina Angelopoulos] Abstract: For a long time, copyright and human rights took little account of each other. The emergence of digital technology, however, has forced a more intimate interaction. This interaction raises questions about both the nature of copyright and its relationship with other interests: is copyright a human right and, if so, how can clashes with other human rights be resolved? In the European context, the answer to the first question has so far been ‘yes’, raising the stakes as to the second. Both the CJEU and ECtHR have approached the matter as one requiring a ‘balance’.
This forum was hosted by the QUT Intellectual Property and Innovation Law Research Program and the Australian Centre for Health Law Research in the QUT Faculty of Law to coincide with the visit of the Hon. Michael Kirby to the QUT Faculty of Law. It assessed and evaluated the recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines. Access to medicines is a critical issue in respect of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, the SARS virus, Ebola, and the Zika virus. There have been a number of obstacles and barriers in respect of access to medicines — including the high prices caused by monopolies, and the absence of appropriate treatments for neglected diseases.
[Clara Ducimetière] Abstract: This paper attempts to give an overview of the debate surrounding the patentability of new therapeutic uses for known active ingredients, both in developed and developing countries. After close scrutiny of international patentability standards, this paper concludes that second medical uses do not qualify per se for patent protection and have only been protected in several jurisdictions by means of a legal fiction.
[Ellen 't Hoen] Uganda has notified the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) that pharmaceutical inventions are not eligible for patentability in the country, Managing IP reported. With this notification, Uganda is exercising one of the TRIPS flexibilities specific for least developed country members of the World Trade Organization that allows them not to grant or enforce pharmaceutical patents and protection of undisclosed data.
Professor Ruth Okediji Delivered the 8th Annual Peter A. Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property. Her lecture addressed The Unfinished Business of Copyright Limitations and Exceptions. Professor Okediji called for a new paradigm of thinking about the relationship between copyright and the public interest. “The excesses of the copyright system cannot be remedied by limitations and exceptions alone,” she exclaimed.
[Kanaga Raja] The current model of medical innovation is ill-equipped to respond to the increasing emergence of infectious diseases amongst others, South Africa has underscored, in calling on WTO members to share their experiences of how TRIPS flexibilities have been used to address high prices and barriers on access to medical technologies and medicines.