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A brave new world : where biotechnology and human rights intersect

This is an overview of the international and domestic law, the law in other jurisdictions and academic commentary with regards to the human rights issues raised by selected applications of biotechnology. Chapters include: . The Current Domestic and International Human Rights Framework. Assisted Human Reproduction. Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis. A Right to Research. Human Rights Issues Related to Genetic Information and Privacy. Human Rights and Patenting. Biotechnology, Rights and Traditional Knowledge. (Government of Canada, March 2005)

http://www.biostrategy.gc.ca/HumanRights/HumanRightsE/toc_e.html

(Added: Thu Sep 07 2006   Hits: 274)

Access to drugs: a suitable case for treatment

This article comments on the recently released WHO report "Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights". While the main message of the report - that governments should do more to increase poor people's access to medicines - will be likely to make much impact, it is in reading between the lines that the great debate of how to make globalisation benefit the poor is revealed. The absence of concrete proposals for change reflects not so much the panelists' lack of commitment as their inability to reach a consensus on how to reach the above goal. On one side are those who believe the solution lies in the hands of pharmaceutical companies, open markets, and governments that believe these should be allowed to operate with minimal interference. On the other are those whose main concern is that the current lack of available and accessible medicines for the poor is clear evidence of market failure and who believe governments have a responsibility to intervene. Such is the disagreement that half the panel's members felt it necessary to publish statements dissociating themselves from some of the report's conclusions. (David Dickson, Sci-Dev Net, 5 April 2006)

http://www.scidev.net/Editorials/index.cfm?fuseaction=readEditorials&itemid=187&language=1

(Added: Mon Apr 10 2006   Hits: 372)

Briefing Paper to United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Wai 262 Claims to Indigenous Flora and Fauna Me o o Ratou Taonga Katoa

The Wai 262 claim is about ensuring that appropriate recognition, protection, and provision is made for Maori rights in relation to indigenous flora and fauna, their special relationship with that indigenous flora and fauna, and all knowledge and intellectual property rights that flow from that relationship. The claimants assert that these are rights that were guaranteed and protected under Article 2 of both the English and Maori versions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi. Despite its widely recognised significance both in Aotearoa/New Zealand and internationally, the claim has suffered many setbacks including a serious lack of funding, significant opposition from the government and ongoing unreasonable delays. Almost 15 years after the claim was filed, and notwithstanding that urgency was granted to it being heard in 1995, the claim still languishes uncompleted in the Waitangi Tribunal. (2006)

http://www.pcpd.org.nz/sr/wai262.pdf

(Added: Wed Jan 31 2007   Hits: 170)

British historian Thomas Macaulay on copyright law

British historian Thomas Macaulay had ideas about copyright in 1841 which still hold true today. These are two speeches given by Thomas Macaulay in Parliament in 1841, when the issue of copyright was being hammered out. They are, no other word for it, brilliant - and cover everything fundamental which is involved in the issue. (For those not familiar with him, Macaulay would eventually become one of the foremost British historians of the 19th century. His History of England remains in print to this day, as do many of his other writings.)

http://www.baen.com/library/palaver4.htm

(Added: Wed Oct 01 2003   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 323)

Club of Rome Position Paper on WSIS (PDF)

14 August 2003. The "Club of Rome" (CoR), one of the most prestigous think tanks world-wide, now has also taken a position on the WSIS. In the statement that was published today, the CoR is adopting a number of core priorities of the civil society groups involved in the WSIS process. The CoR is e.g. asking for a stronger commitment to publicly available knowledge (global commons or public domain), is demanding that privacy will be secured inthe information society and is suggesting an environment-friendly use of information technologies. On top of that, the CoR states that "the greater involvement of Civil Society with its many NGOs and other organisations, which have considerable expertise in specific fields, is increasingly essential in implementation processes." The statement ends with the sentence: "NGOs and civil-society organisations should be empowered to play an increased role." (PDF 168KB)

http://www.worldsummit2003.de/download_en/CoR-WSIS-Statement-Final-14-8-03.pdf

(Added: Mon Aug 18 2003   Modified: Fri Nov 10 2006   Hits: 222)

Commission on Intellectual Property Rights

Website of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights. The Commission was set up by the British government to look at how intellectual property rights might work better for poor people and developing countries.

http://www.iprcommission.org/

(Added: Fri Sep 13 2002   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 171)

Creative Commons

The Creative Commons is devoted to expanding the range of creative work available for others to build upon and share.

http://www.creativecommons.org/

(Added: Mon Jun 09 2003   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 157)

Drive for patent-free innovation gathers pace

Nature 424, 118 (10 July 2003); doi:10.1038/424118a. DECLAN BUTLER, [PARIS] J. ARCIGA/NOTIMEX Kamil Idris is being asked to assess the merits of an open approach to intellectual property. A group of top scientists and economists are asking the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva to promote 'open' models of innovation that don't rely on patents. The group believes that innovation based on freely available knowledge can be effective not just in areas where it has established a foothold - such as genome sequence data - but also in sectors where patent protection is entirely dominant, such as drug development.

http://www.nature.com/login/scidev_login.taf?ref=/nature/journal/v424/n6945/full/424118a_fs.html

(Added: Mon Jul 21 2003   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 177)

Drug Patents Under the Spotlight: Sharing Practical Knowledge About Pharmaceutical Patents

Patents are by no means the only barrier to access to life-saving medicines, but they can play a significant, or even determinant, role in that they grant the patent holder a monopoly on a drug for a number of years. The patent holder's freedom to set prices has resulted in drugs being unaffordable to the majority of people living in developed countries. On the other hand, a functioning patent system is also supposed to guarantee that the public at large benefits from any innovation, including medicines. Countries have deployed various strategies to strike a balance between private and public interests in their intellectual property systems, and they have had various degrees of success. This report is aimed at a non-expert, non-legal audience, and it aims to offer new approaches to those seeking to overcome patent barriers.

http://www.msf.org/content/page.cfm?articleid=ADA6508E-8907-4010-98650D3E93826B0D

(Added: Mon May 24 2004   Modified: Fri Jul 21 2006   Hits: 219)

From palm leaf to database

India and Sri Lanka are seeking to make traditional medical knowledge accessible to researchers developing affordable treatments, while preserving it from biopirates, by translating ancient texts and building a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). While other countries are attempting to do the same, it is not so easy in oral cultures. (Tatum Anderson, Guardian Weekly, February 2007)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly/outlook/story/0,,2002924,00.html

(Added: Mon Feb 05 2007   Hits: 66)

How TRIPS Threatens Biodiversity and Food Sovereignty

Conclusions and Recommendations from NGO Perspectives. A declaration by CSOs and NGOs Hyderabad, India, June 21, 2003.

http://www.grain.org/publications/hyd-2003-declaration-en.cfm

(Added: Tue Sep 02 2003   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 254)

Indigenous Groups Tell WIPO, 'Don't Patent Our Traditional Knowledge'

This week, a key World Intellectual Property Organization committee is debating policies related to the protection of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions (folklore) and genetic resources with an eye to helping local communities, often indigenous, get the full market value and public use of their traditions through fair negotiations with outside patent applicants. But some told the United Nations body that they would be better off simply with stronger rights of their own. (William New, Intellectual Property Watch, 6 December 2006)

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=480&res=1024_ff&print=0

(Added: Thu Dec 07 2006   Hits: 81)

Inside Views: Should The Developing World Copy To 'Catch Up' With Developed Countries?

It is forbidden in the intellectual property world to condone anything to do with copying without the owner's permission. It is of course understood that the hard work of any IP owner ought to be rewarded and acknowledged. No one is disputing that fact. However, it is important to mention that copying had not always been taboo in the IP world. In fact, copying is how the world's now most powerful economy rose to success, and perhaps we should all copy its example because what it did was the best thing for its people and should be commended. (Naana E. K. Amono, Intellectual Property Watch, 26 Spetember 2006)

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=406&res=1024_ff&print=0

(Added: Fri Nov 10 2006   Hits: 75)

IPR and IPRO:Intellectual property rights and indigenous peoples

This paper will discuss the efforts being made by a number of Mäori tribes in Aotearoa to have their cultural rights and values recognised and protected. There are a number of different ways in which this is occurring but the most significant case in terms of seeking protection of traditional knowledge is the claim by six tribes currently before the Waitangi Tribunal. The paper will examine from a Mäori perspective their notions of indigenous peoples rights and obligations and how they are fundamentally at odds with existing intellectual property right systems. The paper will also explore how some of the Mäori claimants consider their rights should be acknowledged, respected and protected and the inevitable obstacles that must be confronted and overcome before this can happen. Finally, the paper will consider the implications of Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity and related provisions, and how they impact on the struggle by the Mäori to have their rights and obligations recognised and protected within Aotearoa/New Zealand. (Maui Solomon, paper presented to Global Biodiversity Forum 13 UNEP, Nairobi, May 2000)

http://www.otago.ac.nz/titi/hui/Main/Talks2/Murray.htm

(Added: Wed Dec 13 2006   Hits: 120)

Iraq's new patent law: A declaration of war against farmers

by Focus on the Global South and GRAIN. October 2004. For generations, small farmers in Iraq operated in an essentially unregulated, informal seed supply system. Farm-saved seed and the free innovation with and exchange of planting materials among farming communities has long been the basis of agricultural practice. This has been made illegal under the new law. The seeds farmers are now allowed to plant - "protected" crop varieties brought into Iraq by transnational corporations in the name of agricultural reconstruction - will be the property of the corporations. While historically the Iraqi constitution prohibited private ownership of biological resources, the new US-imposed patent law introduces a system of monopoly rights over seeds.

http://www.grain.org/articles/?id=6

(Added: Wed Jan 12 2005   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 138)

Mana Tuturu: Maori Treasures and Intellectual Property Rights

Arts Foundation Laureate Barry Barclay (Ngati Apa; Pakeha) brings his lifetime of experience making films on Indigenous subjects to his latest project, a book offering solutions to the complex and difficult problems that arise when the treasures of Indigenous peoples, especially Maori, enter a commercial world which seeks to reproduce and disseminate them. (Auckland University Press, 5 December 2006)

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0512/S00016.htm

(Added: Wed Nov 15 2006   Hits: 99)

Patents versus Patients: Five years after the Doha Declaration

Five years ago, members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) signed a ministerial agreement to ensure that intellectual property rules would no longer obstruct developing countries' efforts to protect public health. This report finds that since then, however, little has changed. Patented medicines continue to be priced out of reach for the world's poorest people. Trade rules remain a major barrier to accessing affordable versions of patented medicines (generic medicines). The prevalence of debilitating and life-threatening diseases in poor countries is growing, but medicines are simply not available. Urgent action is needed. (Oxfam, November 2006)

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/health/downloads/bp95_patents.pdf

(Added: Wed Nov 15 2006   Hits: 114)

Pharmaceuticals as commons

This speech looks at patents and their origen. It explores how patent protection is justified, and argues that it is important to view pharmaceuticals as a common good that should be publicly and freely availably to all those who need it. Achieving this would mean a different social system based on human need and not profit. Under a truly cooperative system based on this principle, patents wouldn't be needed - inventors and researchers would be assured a living, and pharmaceutical institutions would freely share their discoveries. However, proposing a removal of patents under the current system is also problematic. (Marina Carman, Commons Institute, September 2004)

http://www.mercury.org.au/tci_speeches.htm#carman

(Added: Fri Nov 10 2006   Hits: 100)

Policy Brief On Intellectual Property, Development And Human Rights [PDF]

In an increasingly technology-driven world, the standard of protection provided by intellectual property (IP) rules is affecting development policies, human rights and other public-interest goals more than ever. Strict IP rules have had an adverse impact on the ability of many governments to fulfill their human rights obligations, of which obligations to ensure access to affordable medicines, educational goods and adequate food. This report by NGO 3D discusses intellectual property in terms of human rights and its impact on the realization of these rights.

http://www.3dthree.org/pdf_3D/3DPolBrief-WIPO-eng.pdf

(Added: Fri Mar 10 2006   Modified: Fri Jul 21 2006   Hits: 257)

Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights [pdf 4.69mb]

An independent Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health presented its report on April 3 to the World Health Organisation. Over half of the people in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia lack regular access to existing essential medicines because they cannot afford them, or because the health system in their country is too weak. Apart from access to existing medicines, some health products specifically for diseases which disproportionately affect developing countries are simply not developed at all due to the lack of a sustainable market. The relationship between intellectual property rights, innovation and public health has been at the heart of debate on these issues. The report recommends key actions needed to ensure that poor people in developing countries have access to existing and new products to diagnose, treat and prevent the diseases which affect them most. (Commission of the WHO, 3 April 2006)

http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/documents/thereport/CIPIH23032006.pdf

(Added: Mon Apr 10 2006   Hits: 93)

Safeguarding Hawaiian traditional knowledge & cultural heritage: supporting the right to self-determination & preventing commodification of culture

This paper argues that the domination of Western intellectual property law over western markets should not extend to the traditional knowledge and cultural heritage of Native Hawaiians. It explores the meaning of traditional knowledge and cultural heritage according to the Native Hawaiian narrative, and describes the harms exacted on Native Hawaiians as a result of the commodification of culture, specifically, harms to health, the environment, and sustainability. (Danielle Conway-Jones, Howard Law Journal, December 2005)

http://iipsj.org/IIPSJScholarlyActivities/2005IIPSJHLJSymposium/ConwayJonesHLJArticle.pdf

(Added: Tue Nov 28 2006   Modified: Mon Jan 15 2007   Hits: 179)

Saving the Net: How to get past the intellectual and political logjams that threaten Linux and the Internet

Doc Searls gives an overview of differing perspectives on intellectual property, copyright, and points out how deeply ingrained they are in Western political ideology. He then suggests that by drawing on a strand of traditional conservative ideals, conservatives can be convinced of the need to save the Internet from corporate interests who wish to turn it into a medium dominated by advertisers and entertainment companies.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6989

(Added: Mon Jul 28 2003   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 165)

South American Ministers Vow to Protect Access to Medicines

The Ministers of Health of ten South American countries have issued a joint declaration on intellectual property committing themselves to avoid "TRIPS plus" provisions-clauses that are stricter than the "Trade-Related Intellectual Property" measures stipulated by the World Trade Organization (WTO)-in bilateral and regional trade agreements. Unfortunately, several of the countries that signed on have already acceded to these measures in Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the United States. Still, the declaration represents an important move to establish a united position in the face of U.S. and other developed country pressures to provide extended patent exclusivity to transnational pharmaceutical companies. Such resistance is necessary for the health of poor people. (Martin Khor, International Relations Centre, 15 June 2006)

http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3320

(Added: Thu Jun 22 2006   Modified: Tue Aug 15 2006   Hits: 157)

SPC Cultural Affairs Programme Strategic Plan 2006-2009

The CAP is a programme of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community's (SPC) Social Resources Division and contributes to the division's mission to maximise the development potential of Pacific Island people in health, culture and information and enhance the empowerment of women and young people. The programme seeks to preserve and promote Pacific Island heritage for future generations, and works principally in the areas of legal protection, institutional strengthening, artistic and cultural exchanges and awareness raising. This Plan outlines its actions and future directions. Of particular interest is the challenges of protecting traditional knowledge. (SPC, 2006)

http://www.spc.int/Culture/download/English_docs/CAP%20SPP%202006-09.pdf

(Added: Fri Dec 08 2006   Hits: 155)

The Case Against Intellectual Property

This short and important paper may seem puzzling or disturbing to legal and economic specialists in intellectual property. And for good reason: it challenges some of their most basic assumptions. Boldrin and Levine begin by recognizing the appeal of the common argument that property rights provide strong incentives to innovate. "If property rights provide good incentives for the production of potatoes, they must also provide good incentives for the production of ideas." This argument, they agree, is appealing and sensible. However, they go on to point out an often overlooked feature of copyrights and patents: these systems do not simply confer rights to own and sell intellectual property; they also confer rights to control the subsequent use of that property. "When you buy a potato you can eat it, throw it away, plant it, or make it into a sculpture. Current law allows producers of CDs and books to take this freedom away from you. When you buy a potato you can use the 'idea' of a potato embodied in it to make better potatoes or to invent French fries. Current law allows producers of computer software or medical drugs to take this freedom away from you." The authors consider this discrepancy a distortion of basic property rights, a kind of "intellectual monopoly." (Summary by James Bessen, Research on Innovation and MIT Sloan, visiting)

http://www.researchoninnovation.org/tiip/archive/2003_2_a.htm

(Added: Wed Oct 01 2003   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 320)

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