Intellectual Property

Policy Brief 50, August 2018

The International Debate on Generic Medicines of Biological Origin

By Dr. Germán Velásquez

The debate on generic medicines is not new. What makes it different today is that attacks levelled against biological generic products are couched in even more “technical” and abstruse language. The high price of biological drugs stems mainly from the introduction of barriers to the entry of generics into the market. In any debate on the feasibility of producing biological generic products identical to the ‘original’ ones, it should be made clear that what are at stake are not identical products but therapeutic equivalents.

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SouthViews No. 170, 9 August 2018

The Imperative of Protecting and Respecting Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Their Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic Resources in the Intellectual Property Rights Regime under the WTO and WIPO

By Victoria Tauli-Corpuz

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Member of the South Centre’s Board, made a presentation, reproduced below, about ‘The Imperative of Protecting and Respecting Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Their Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic Resources in the Intellectual Property Rights Regime under the WTO and WIPO’ at the International Conference on the TRIPS-CBD Linkage: Issues and Way Forward, held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva on 7-8 June 2018. The conference was jointly organized by the South Centre, the Centre for WTO Studies, New Delhi and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa to the WTO. (more…)

SC Conference on TRIPS-CBD, 7-8 June 2018

Title:                 International Conference on TRIPS-CBD Linkage: Issues and Way Forward

Date:                7-8 June 2018

Venue:              Room IX, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Organizers:     The South Centre, Centre for WTO Studies and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa to the WTO

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Policy Brief 49, July 2018

Major Outcomes of the 71st Session of the World Health Assembly of WHO

By Nirmalya Syam and Mirza Alas

The 71st session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) took place from 21 to 26 May 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Assembly adopted several decisions and resolutions including the adoption of the General Programme of Work (GPW) of WHO for the period 2019-2023, as well as decisions on addressing access to medicines and vaccines and their global shortage, and the recommendations of an overall programme review of the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (GSPA-PHI).   (more…)

IP Negotiations Monitor 24, April 2018

The IP Negotiations Monitor summarizes the latest developments in multilateral and regional fora where intellectual property negotiations are taking place, and informs on upcoming meetings and events.

(Covering period: January – March 2018)

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SouthViews No. 167, 28 March 2018

What we can learn from the Facebook data scandal

By Nakshatra Pachauri

Recent news about the collusion of Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and the Trump election has brought forward one of the more covert and often insufficiently discussed problem of Social Media platforms to the fore. Instead of calling out Facebook alone, I prefer to use Social Media platforms as the problems related to big data enterprise and privacy are as much a Twitter/Whatsapp/Instagram/Snapchat issue as it is for Facebook.

Yet right now Facebook is being attacked from left, right and center by everyone including their own ilk. The question this merits is whether the data problems with the Social Media platforms are only limited to explicitly share data (which Facebook is being blamed for) or is it also about the (more often used) method of implicitly acquiring and utilizing user information? (more…)

Policy Brief 46, March 2018

Outcomes of the 142nd session of the WHO Executive Board

The 142nd session of the WHO Executive Board discussed several critical public health issues including a recommendation to the WHA to approve the General Program of Work (GPW), the adoption of important decisions relating to access to medicines and research and development and a draft resolution on the preparation of the UN High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis.

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