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

US Government Special 301 “Watchlist” and Developing Country Use of Compulsory Licenses for Healthcare

Special 301 is an annual report by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) which places countries on a “watch list” if USTR would like to see greater changes in their intellectual property rules or enforcement practice. This year’s report came out May 1st. We pay attention because USTR relies heavily on comments from […]

The Copyright Pentalogy: How the Supreme Court of Canada Shook the Foundations of Canadian Copyright

[Posted to michaelgeist.ca (CC-BY)(Link)] Copyright cases typically only reach the Supreme Court of Canada once every few years, ensuring that each case is carefully parsed and analyzed. As readers of this blog know, on July 12, 2012, the Supreme Court issued rulings on five copyright cases in a single day, an unprecedented tally that shook […]

South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry Reneges on IP Policy Commitments

[Posted on FixthePatentLaws.org (Link)] On 24 April 2013, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies stated that South Africa’s new intellectual property (IP) policy would not be released for public comment any time soon. This starkly contrasts with a number of promises in the past two years, by both the Minister and officials in the […]

Special 301 and Access to Medicines under the Obama Administration

The first Obama campaign for the presidency reached out to access to medicines campaigners to join the broad coalition he was building to gain the presidency. In response to their concerns, he declared that his presidency would “break the stranglehold that a few big drug and insurance companies have on these life-saving drugs,” and pledged […]

USTR Special 301 Attacks Indian Novartis Ruling – WTO Director General Defends It

This is a quick note about one of the items in this year’s Special 301 Report, released by USTR this morning. The report attacks the recent Indian Novartis ruling in unusually direct language. The ruling upheld the denial of a patent on Glivec for failing to meet patentability requirements under Section 3(d) of the Indian […]

What is Special 301? A Historical Primer

One of the diverse sources from which the international intellectual property regime emanates is an annual unilateral adjudication of foreign government trade policies by the United States under the so-called “Special 301” program and report. For over two decades the report has functioned as one of the primary sticks for the U.S.’s “carrot and stick” […]