Category IP and Human Rights

Statement by Dr. Carlos Correa to the U.N. High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage

As noted by the WHO, spending on pharmaceuticals represents “15 to 30% of health spending in transitional economies and 25 to 66% in developing countries. In most low income countries pharmaceuticals are the largest public expenditure on health after personnel costs and the largest household health expenditure.” It is indispensable, therefore, to implement policies that promote competitive markets for pharmaceuticals, particularly in the area of procurement, regulatory approvals (including biologicals) and intellectual property.

Over 60 Health Organisations Demand ARIPO Reform to Increase Access to More Affordable Medicines in Eastern & Southern Africa

[KLIEN and Health GAP] More than 60 health organisations are calling for rapid reform of the Harare Protocol of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in order to protect public health across its 18 Eastern and Southern African member states. Representing people living with cancer, tuberculosis, HIV, and many other diseases and conditions—the organisations are demanding that ARIPO takes urgent steps to amend the Harare Protocol and introduce public health safeguards that will significantly improve access to medicines in the region.

WHO: Countries Raise Concerns about Access to Affordable Drug-Resistant TB Treatment

[Third World Network] Member states participating in the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) renewed their commitment to end tuberculosis (TB) while expressing serious concerns about drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), the treatment of which is presently costly and beyond the reach of many national TB programmes… Bedaquiline and delamanid are extensively patented in countries with a high TB burden such as China, India, Indonesia etc, blocking entry of generic competition and more affordable sources of the treatment. Members states and civil society interventions during the WHA reflected the challenges they face in this regard

Scoping Study on Access to Copyright Protected Works by Persons With Disabilities

[Blake E. Reid and Caroline B. Ncube] Abstract: Many copyrighted works exist in formats inaccessible to individuals with disabilities. This inaccessibility is problematic, as many countries have passed laws that support equal societal participation for individuals with disabilities. Access to copyrighted content for individuals with disabilities generally requires some type of assistive technology that transforms some or all of the content of the work from one medium to another. However, these transformations can implicate the exclusive rights granted to copyright and related rights holders.

3D Printing Shakes Up Intellectual Property Rights

The emerging trend in 3D printing of products has resulted in a massive spike in patents being classified, according to QUT researchers.

The QUT Faculty of Law Intellectual Property and Innovation Research Program is hosting an event on 3D Printing on Wednesday, October 25, 2018 at the State Library of Queensland.

The half-day symposium considers the role of 3D printing in intellectual property, education, community participation and innovation.

The Chilling Effect: Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Graphic Health Warnings, the Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership – Matthew Rimmer

The Chilling Effect: Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Graphic Health Warnings, the Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Victoria University Law and Justice Journal (2017) Matthew Rimmer Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) poses significant challenges in respect of tobacco control,…

The Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products – a Special Issue of the QUT Law Review – Open Access

The QUT Law Review has officially published the final version of Volume 17 (2) – Special Issue on the Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products. This issue looks at important legal and regulatory issues surrounding plain packaging reforms and the ways in which other jurisdictions have approached plain packaging reform and policy. In particular, it covers Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland.

Intellectual Property before the European Court of Human Rights

[Christophe Geiger and Elena Izyumenko] Abstract: In the past years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, or Strasbourg Court), Europe’s principal human rights watchdog, has played an ever larger role in the resolution of intellectual property (IP) disputes. The ECtHR’s engagement in IP adjudication has already influenced national judges, who increasingly have recourse to human rights to solve cases between private parties, thus calling for closer scrutiny of the Court’s practice on this matter. The present chapter provides the first comprehensive overview of the ECtHR case law on IP for the period since the Court’s inception (in January 1959) until today (February 2018).

Letter From 24 Civil Society Groups to EU and Mercusor Trade Negotiators, re: IP and Access to Medicines

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″] [et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Dear Ms. Gallina, Dear Mr. Pinto: We, the undersigning organisations, active in the fields of public health and access to medicines, mostly based in the European Union or Mercosur, draw your attention…