The much anticipated (and much dreaded)
report
from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the relationship between intellectual
property, innovation, and public health has been released, and is available
on-line.
Note also that there are some separate statements ("commentaries") by some Commission members criticizing various aspects of the report. Other comments are also found near the end of the report itself, which is a 228 page, 4.69 MB download in English. Why it's only 1.58 MB in French, I don't know. It's not like the French are more efficient or something . . .
This report will undoubtedly become the basis of demands by anti-IP activists to weaken IP rights around the globe as related to health care products. I'm sure at the next WIPO meeting on the development agenda, we'll hear at least a dozen NGO's quoting from this report and using it as ammunition.
That's why such reports are commissioned in the first place. This is how the UN works.
Note also that there are some separate statements ("commentaries") by some Commission members criticizing various aspects of the report. Other comments are also found near the end of the report itself, which is a 228 page, 4.69 MB download in English. Why it's only 1.58 MB in French, I don't know. It's not like the French are more efficient or something . . .
This report will undoubtedly become the basis of demands by anti-IP activists to weaken IP rights around the globe as related to health care products. I'm sure at the next WIPO meeting on the development agenda, we'll hear at least a dozen NGO's quoting from this report and using it as ammunition.
That's why such reports are commissioned in the first place. This is how the UN works.