infojustice

Advocating for a world where intellectual
property law serves the public interest.

Now Is the Time for Open Access Policies—Here’s Why

[Victoria Heath and Brigitte Vézina] Over the weekend, news emerged that upset even the most ardent skeptics of open access. Under the headline, “Trump vs Berlin” the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported that President Trump offered $1 billion USD to the German biopharmaceutical company CureVac to secure their COVID-19 vaccine “only for the United States.”

What We Hope for WIPO Under New Leadership: Neutrality, Fairness, and Transparency

[Teresa Nobre] ... it is of utmost importance that the new Director General’s stance on issues that have been key areas of concern for the organizations advocating for society-oriented reforms at WIPO clearly contribute to: ensuring full participation of civil society representatives and minimising discussions held behind closed doors; ensuring that WIPO’s work is based on solid evidence rather than

Google Submission to USTR, re: South Africa GSP Review

[Google, Inc.] South Africa has made strong progress in crafting a fair use system that is closely modeled on the U.S. legal framework, including a four-factor test drawn from 17 U.S.C. § 107 that strikes an appropriate balance between the interests of authors, creators, and users. The adoption of fair use in South Africa would clearly benefit U.S. exporters, particularly

Global Congress Update, re: COVID 19

[Carolina Botero and Meredith Jacob] We have all been following the evolution of COVID 19, which has now been characterized as global pandemic by the World Health Organization. The safety of our participants and the health of our communities must be our highest priority, as we assess how to move forward with the Global Congress.

Research Synthesis: Patentability Criteria

[Marcela Vieira and Suerie Moon] We would like to share with you a new research synthesis on patentability criteria in the pharmaceutical sector. It can be accessed at https://www.knowledgeportalia.org/patentability-criteria. The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS Agreement) sets out basic patentability criteria, but countries have policy space to decide how these criteria are defined and applied at the

WIPO Nominates Daren Tang as New Director General

[International Federation of Library Associations] The UN agency that manages the global intellectual property system – including copyright – has nominated a new Director General. As the current Chair of the organisation’s copyright committee – and as a modernising reformer nationally – he will bring a strong awareness of the needs of libraries to the role.