This article was originally published by GroundUp on 3 July 2013. The original article can be accessed here By Marcus Low On 22 June a treaty for the blind was heading for disaster as negotiators stalled and refused to budge on hardline positions. Three days later a negotiator stepped out of a boardroom in the […]
READ MORETAC’s Marcus Low is currently participating in the Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference to conclude a WIPO Treaty to facilitate access to published works by visually impaired persons and persons with print disabilities. The Diplomatic Conference is currently (17 – 28 June) taking place in Marrakesh, Morocco. See below Marcus’s opening statement made on 19 June. Marcus […]
READ MOREOn 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 Department of Trade and […]
READ MOREBy Marcus Low This article was originally published on GroundUp on April 10 2013. The original article can be accessed here A treaty that has the potential to change the lives of millions of blind people is at risk of being hijacked by publishers who show no sympathy for the difficulties faced by blind people […]
READ MORETAC joins global actions against the European Union’s on-going efforts to restrict access to affordable medicines. The EU and India are in the final stages of negotiations for an EU-India free trade agreement (FTA). EU is also currently negotiating FTAs with Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The EU has repeatedly attempted to use these […]
READ MOREProfessor Brook K. Baker, Senior Policy Analyst Health GAP April 2, 2013 Novartis, its fellow Big Pharma multinationals, Chambers of Commerce, and PhRMA have all roundly denounced India’s Supreme Court’s decision invalidating Novartis’ patent application for Glivec (Gleevec in the United States) and its affirmation of strict anti-evergreening standards of patentability and inventive step in […]
READ MOREThe 2012/2013 South African Health Review was launched on 2 April 2013. The first chapter of the publication reviews ‘Health policy and legislation’ in the country. The chapter includes a useful analysis of the draft intellectual property policy for South Africa, as well as the ruling in the recent docetaxel case. The chapter, which has […]
READ MOREFor the past 7 years, the Indian government has faced on-going court challenges and bullying by the pharmaceutical company Novartis. Novartis’s challenge has centred on provisions in the Indian Patents Act that exclude new uses and formulations of existing medicines from patentability. Specifically, Novartis challenged India’s rejection of its patent application for the cancer medicine […]
READ MOREAs the 5th BRICS Summit kicks off today in Durban, the South African government must follow the lead of its BRICS peers to ensure that life-saving medicines are affordable. Other BRICS countries have fulfilled the commitments they made in July 2011 to enact public health safeguards spelled out in World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements. Decisive […]
READ MOREBy Mara Kardas-Nelson This article was originally published in the Mail&Guardian on 15 March 2013. The original is available at http://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-15-a-shocking-disregard-for-generics Many drugs cost far more in South Africa than in countries with strict patent-vetting processes. Two thousand four hundred and forty-two. That’s the number of medicine patents South Africa granted in 2008. In Brazil, […]
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