IP Watch reports that an Indian government official has acknowledged that India was not asked to participate in the ACTA negotiations and that it is concerned that the text is out of sync with international law.
Post Tagged with: "wto"
India Prepared to File WTO Complaint Against EU Over Generic Drug Seizures
Reuters reports that India is prepared to file a WTO complaint against the European Union for seizures of generic pharmaceuticals that transit in an EU port.
Brazil May Target U.S. IP To Retaliate for WTO Violation
Brazil is threatening to ignore U.S. patents in retaliation for WTO violations over cotton subsidies.
Goldstein Introduces Patent Reform Bill To Ease Access To Medicines
For many years, countries such as Canada have avoided the uncomfortable truth that millions are dying in the developing world due partly to legal barriers that render access to medicines unaffordable. In 2003, the World Trade Organization reached agreement designed to facilitate the export of medicines by opening the door to a compulsory licence for developing countries without manufacturing capabilities. Canada became an early adopter of the agreement by reforming the Patent Act to allow the Canadian Commissioner of Patents to issue a compulsory licence to a pharmaceutical company to allow for the manufacture and export of an eligible drug or medical device to an eligible importing country. Titled the Jean Chretien Pledge to Africa Act after the former Prime Minister’s commitment to development support in Africa, the reforms were touted as an illustration of Canadian leadership on development issues.
My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that several years later, most agree the policy have been a near-total failure. The law has only been used once and the company involved in the process found it so burdensome that it has vowed not to repeat it. Moreover, other countries, including the European Union, the Netherlands, Switzerland, China, India and South Korea, have also implemented the WTO reforms in a manner that leaves the Canadian Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) looking unduly restrictive and outdated by comparison.
Peeking Behind Canada’s Copyright Complaint Against China at the WTO
Late last month, the World Trade Organization released a much-anticipated decision involving a U.S.-led complaint against China over its intellectual property laws. Canada was among a number of countries that participated in the case, which alleged that China’s domestic laws, border measures, and criminal penalties for intellectual property violations do not comply with its international treaty obligations.
On April 25, 2007, David Emerson, then the Minister of International Trade, issued a press release announcing Canada's participation, stating that it was "based on concerns expressed by Canadian stakeholders on a range of issues related to China's intellectual property rights regime." Yet, as reported in my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) according to dozens of internal Canadian government documents obtained under the Access to Information Act, Canadian officials, unable to amass credible evidence of harm to Canadian interests, harboured significant doubts about the wisdom of joining the case and ultimately did so only under the weight of great pressure from the United States.
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 200: Colin Bennett on the EU’s Surprising Adequacy Finding on Canadian Privacy Law 
Debating the Online Harms Act: Insights from Two Recent Panels on Bill C-63 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act 
AI Spending is Not an AI Strategy: Why the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Plan Avoids the Hard Governance Questions 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 198: Richard Moon on the Return of the Section 13 Hate Speech Provision in the Online Harms Act
