[governance] Fwd: IP ENFORCEMENT ROUNDUP - JANUARY 24, 2011

Mon Jan 24 11:21:38 EST 2011

For those interested in intellectual property, I recommend this weekly
newsletter and the website www.infojustice.org

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Palmedo <mpalmedo at wcl.american.edu>
Date: Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 2:16 PM
Subject: IP ENFORCEMENT ROUNDUP - JANUARY 24, 2011
To: IP-ENFORCEMENT at roster.wcl.american.edu

*IP ENFORCEMENT ROUNDUP – JANUARY 24, 2011*

* *

*European academics circulate sign-on statement of opinion on ACTA*

* *

A group of prominent European academics coordinated by Rita Matulionyte  and
Axel Metzger from the Leibniz University in Hanover has released an opinion
on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).  The opinion shows how
ACTA clashes both with EU policy and with the enforcement provisions of the
TRIPS Agreement.  The drafting committee invites European and national
institutions to carefully consider the opinion before ratifying the
Agreement or withholding consent.  The document is open for
signatures<http://www.iri.uni-hannover.de/acta-1668.html>until
February 7, 2011. Click
here for more. <http://infojustice.org/archives/848>   **

* *

*Publishers cut off researchers’ free access to medical journals in poor
countries  *

Large publishers are starting to pull out of the Health InterNetwork for
Access to Research Initiative (HINARI), a system for providing free journals
to low income countries established by the World Health Organization (WHO)
in 2001. Earlier this month, researchers in Bangladesh received notice that
they would no longer receive access to journals published by Elsevier,
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, and Springer through the program.  WHO has
since revealed that 28 other Least Developed Countries will lose access to
free journals through the HINARI.  Click here for
more.<http://infojustice.org/archives/880>

* *

*Brazilian Ministry of Culture removes Creative Commons licenses from its
website*

Since 2003, the Brazilian Ministry of Culture website’s content has been
posted under a Creative Commons license, but the Ministry has removed the
Creative Commons logo from its website.  The removal occurred shortly after
the publication of an open letter asking for the continuation of copyright
reforms that were adopted or were under discussion during the government of
Lula, and which would have expanded limitations and exceptions to
copyright.  Therefore, the removal has been interpreted by the Brazilian
civil society as a sign of the inflexibility of Minister Ana de Hollanda,
who opposes the reforms. Click here for
more.<http://infojustice.org/archives/867>

* *

*U.S. state legislators call for halt of trade restrictions on
pharmaceutical pricing*

On Friday, an organization of state legislators passed a
resolution<http://forumdemocracy.net/article.php?id=570>calling on the
U.S. to halt the use of trade agreements to enact
international disciplines on pharmaceutical pricing programs. The resolution
specifically targets the ongoing negotiation of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP), a plurilateral trade agreement among eight nations. To
date, no negotiating text has been publicly released. But the branded drug
lobby has requested the inclusion of a chapter in the agreement that would
require countries to “appropriately recognize the value of patented
medicines” when determining reimbursement levels for medicines purchased in
the public health sector. Click here for
more.<http://infojustice.org/archives/910>

* *

*Notes from the State of the Net Conference***

On January 18, the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Congressional Internet
Caucus held the Seventh Annual  State of the Net Conference to discuss
current issues and upcoming legislation in 2011. The Director of
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement described Operation In Our Sites, which
targeted infringing sites, and Members of Congress discussed strengthening
domestic and international IP protection, and a panel discussed the
feasibility and wisdom of enforcement measures in COICA.  Many of the
keynote speeches are available online.  Click here for
more.<http://infojustice.org/archives/859>

* *

*UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health enters Kenyan legal challenge
to anticounterfeiting bill*

The East African Standard has reported that Anand Grover, the Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Anand Grover will “intervene as an
interested party to support the constitutional principles of access to
essential medicines" in a court case against the Kenyan Anti-Counterfeiting
bill.  Health advocates have warned that the bill contains loose definitions
of “counterfeit” that will allow patent owning firms to block legitimate
generic medicines.  Click here for more.<http://infojustice.org/archives/904>

* *

*Upcoming events and submission deadlines***

On February 2-3, the Sixth Global Congress Combating
Piracy<http://www.ccapcongress.net/>will take place in Paris,
co-hosted by WIPO and INPI, in partnership with
Interpol, the World Customs Organization, BASCAP, and the International
Trade Mark Association.  February 15 is the deadline for submitting comments
to the US Trade Representative for the 2011 Special 301 Report, and for
submitting comments on ACTA. The WTO TRIPS Council will meet on March 1-2.
Thiru Balasubamaniam from KEI has posted key dates for upcoming WHO, WIPO
and WTO meetings on intellectual property <http://keionline.org/node/1048>.
WIPO has also published a list of its Conferences, Meetings and
Seminars<http://wipo.int/meetings/en/>to be held in the first half of
2011.  For future reference, PIJIP is
creating an ongoing list of upcoming events and submission deadlines which
will be available
here<http://infojustice.org/upcoming-meetings-on-ip-enforcment>
.

*Contributors: Mike Palmedo, Sean Flynn, Marilia Maciel.

*

Mike Palmedo

Assistant Director

Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property

American University Washington College of Law

4801 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20016

T - 202-2274-4442 | F - 202-274-4495

mpalmedo at wcl.american.edu

-- 
Centro de Tecnologia e Sociedade
FGV Direito Rio

Center for Technology and Society
Getulio Vargas Foundation
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
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