A Needle in a Haystack? Human Rights Framing at the World Trade Organization for Access to COVID-19 Vaccines.

How and why is implicit and explicit human rights language used by World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators in debates about intellectual property, know-how, and technology needed to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, and how do these findings compare with negotiators' human rights framing in 2001? Sampling 26 WTO members and two groups of members, this study uses document analysis and six key informant interviews with WTO negotiators, a representative of the WTO Secretariat, and a nonstate actor. In WTO debates about COVID-19 medicines, negotiators scarcely used human rights frames (e.g., "human rights" or "right to health"). Supporters used both human rights frames and implicit language (e.g., "equity," "affordability," and "solidarity") to garner support for the TRIPS waiver proposal, while opponents and WTO members with undetermined positions on the waiver used only implicit language to advocate for alternative proposals. WTO negotiators use human rights frames to appeal to previously agreed language about state obligations; for coherence between their domestic values and policy on one hand, and their global policy positions on the other; and to catalyze public support for the waiver proposal beyond the WTO. This mixed-methods design yields a rich contextual understanding of the modern role of human rights language in trade negotiations relevant for public health.

The Unitary Patent and UPC - Implications for the pharmaceutical sector.

Intellectual property, and particularly patents, are an essential commercial tool for companies involved in drug discovery. The European patent system is about to undergo one of its largest changes for a generation, involving the establishment of a European unitary patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC). The new system will usher in a new European patent right (the unitary patent) which will have unitary effect across participating member states. A new court system (the UPC) will be established to handle litigation of not only the new unitary patents, but also European patents that are validated nationally in participating member states. The new system brings many potential advantages to patent holders and third parties. However, there is significant uncertainty, drawbacks and potential risks that patent owners will need to consider when deciding whether to use the unitary patent system. This article will explore some of the factors that organisations in the pharmaceutical sector should consider in advance of the new system coming into effect.

Analysis on the Evolution Mechanism of Intellectual Property Operation Platform toward Value Proposition under the Digital Technology-Driven Environment.

Research Purpose. In order to study the evolution mechanism of intellectual property operation platform, value analysis in the modern digital technology-driven environment, and how to better develop the operation of intellectual property platform in the current digital technology environment; Research Methods. This paper analyzes the relationship between the development of digital economy and intellectual property operation platform, analyzes, and compares the different stages of intellectual property platform operation in the digital technology-driven environment, and compares the coupling degree of platform operation services in different environments. Research Results. From the research and analysis results, it can be seen that the operation of intellectual property rights under digital technology is of positive significance in the development of social-ecological environment, combined with the development of the industrial ecosystem, and plays a positive role in transforming intellectual property rights into market value, promoting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and economic construction. It is of great significance to create a perfect chain of intellectual property protection and legal protection of property rights, copyrights, and transfer rights. Research Conclusion. It provides new ideas and research value for the future operation mode of intellectual property platform, provides a better guarantee platform and legal environment for China to improve the level of digital economy, creates a suitable ecological environment, and stimulates people's thinking potential.

Concessão rápida de patentes para enfrentamento da COVID-19 no Brasil

[RESUMO]. Com o objetivo de estimular a produção e o licenciamento de novas tecnologias, o Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI), autarquia responsável pela concessão de patentes no Brasil, criou uma moda- lidade de trâmite prioritário para processos de patentes relativos a inovações que possam ser usadas no combate à COVID-19. Os primeiros efeitos dessa medida institucional foram avaliados no presente trabalho, a partir da identificação e análise do tempo dos processos prioritários de patente solicitados por ofício pelo Ministério da Saúde ou por meio de petição pelos próprios depositantes. Os resultados demonstram que o INPI foi capaz de atender de forma exitosa à emergência de saúde pública, concedendo patentes em um período médio de 5,3 meses a contar do pedido de priorização, um tempo consideravelmente inferior à média exigida nos processos usuais.

[ABSTRACT]. With the objective of stimulating the production and licensing of new technologies, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), the agency responsible for granting patents in Brazil, created a priority or fast track procedure for patent processes related to innovations that can be used against COVID-19. The first effects of this institutional measure are assessed in the present work, based on the identification and analysis of the time elapsed between fast track requests by the Ministry of Health or through petition by the depositors themsel- ves. The results demonstrate that the INPI was able to successfully respond to the public health emergency by granting patents on average 5.3 months after the fast track request, a time considerably shorter than the average required in usual processes.

[RESUMEN]. Con objeto de estimular la producción y el otorgamiento de licencias de nuevas tecnologías, el Instituto Nacio- nal de la Propiedad Industrial (INPI), entidad autónoma responsable de la concesión de patentes en Brasil, creó una modalidad de trámite prioritario para los procesos de concesión de patentes relativas a innovaciones que puedan emplearse en la lucha contra la COVID-19. En este trabajo se evaluaron los primeros efectos de esa medida institucional, al determinar y analizar la duración de los procesos prioritarios de concesión de patentes solicitados por medio de comunicación oficial del Ministerio de Salud o de una petición presentada por los propios solicitantes. Los resultados demuestran que el INPI pudo atender con éxito la emergencia de salud pública, al conceder patentes en un período promedio de 5,3 meses contados a partir de la fecha de presen- tación de la solicitud de priorización, un tiempo considerablemente inferior al promedio exigido en los procesos habituales.

Application of Punitive Damages in Intellectual Property Law in Complex Network Environment.

Many IP (intellectual property) will also be infringed, and it will become more and more serious, causing huge economic losses to people or groups who own IP. If punitive damages can be made for intentional but intentional infringement of IP, it will help to stop intentional infringement of IP, and it can also give due compensation to the obligee's loss. Based on this, this paper analyzes the introduction and implementation of punitive damages in IP law. In this paper, a relatively efficient text classification method is realized by using the method of deep learning and model design. Similar texts in the training set are grouped into a group, and each group is considered as a common text vector. Then, a threshold is set to deal with clusters higher than the threshold, and the training set is reformed. Through the experimental results, the feature extraction effect of this model is improved, the classification accuracy is constantly improved, and the final convergence rate of this model reaches 95%. It has been verified that the system can realize the automatic classification of basic Chinese patent texts.

Intellectual Property Protection in Neurosurgery: An Overview.

This is the first article of a series that will cover strategies for the protection of neurosurgical inventions and devices through patent law. Advances in neurosurgical techniques have always been accompanied by advances in neurosurgical technology. Indeed, continuous technological innovation has been a characteristic of the profession. Intellectual property protection serves as an important incentive to innovation. The protection of intellectual property related to neurosurgery presents several issues that deserve careful consideration for neurosurgical innovation.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the TRIPS Waiver: Patents and Flexibility.

The World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provides for global minimum standard patents. These patents potentially limit access to products and processes for the surveillance, tracking, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. A possible solution currently under consideration is a TRIPS waiver of the implementation, application and enforcement for the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19. This article addresses the ways that TRIPS patents might be mediated including through TRIPS flexibilities. The article argues that there are sufficient means of derogating from patents (and potentially copyright, industrial designs and undisclosed information), although they alone will not resolve the access problems. The article concludes that the key patent problem is the transfer of know-how and that developing new ideas about addressing these patent know-how transfers is the presently unaddressed challenge.

A Global Intellectual Property Waiver is Still Needed to Address the Inequities of COVID-19 and Future Pandemic Preparedness.

In October 2020, India and South Africa submitted a proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to suspend IP on all COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics until widespread vaccination could help achieve immunity among people in low- and middle-income countries. After 18 months, the final WTO Decision substantially watered down the original text proposed by India and South Africa, limiting it only to patents on vaccines and the use of protected clinical trial data for regulatory approval. We address why an IP waiver under TRIPS consistent with the one originally proposed by India and South Africa is still needed to not only meet the ongoing inequities of COVID-19, but also to ensure the right precedent for future equitable pandemic preparedness and other crises affecting the global South. To meet the multilateral goals of the WTO, an IP waiver as proposed by India and South Africa is still needed to increase manufacturing capability for vaccines, therapeutics, and other COVID-19 health-related technologies.

Intellectual property: A primer for radiologists.

Typically the creative product of the mind, intellectual property often forms the basis of a new product, service line, or company. Intellectual property law is complicated and nuanced, and poorly understood by many physicians, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Successfully navigating the process of intellectual property protection is critical in facilitating the translation of innovation into clinical practice. We define intellectual property and common terms used in intellectual property law and offer justification for the importance of intellectual property protections. We additionally highlight resources to assist radiologists with intellectual property protection and outline basic guidelines to successfully initiate discussions around intellectual property with third party vendors and consultants. SUMMARY: Proactive intellectual property protection is critically important for radiologist innovators seeking to bring new ideas to the marketplace.

Facilitating open science without sacrificing IP rights: A novel tool for improving replicability of published research: A novel tool for improving replicability of published research.

Conditional Access Agreements could improve replicability of research and enhance Open Science without jeopardizing intellectual property rights.

Function Mechanism of Intellectual Property Capability on Relay Innovation Based on CWLBGSO-DAG-Bootstrap SEM: Mediating Effect of Knowledge Matching and Moderating Effect of Relationship Learning.

Taking unicorn enterprises as the research objects, this study constructs the conceptual model of function mechanism of intellectual property capability on relay innovation performance and introduces knowledge matching as the mediating variable and relationship learning as the moderating variable. Hybrid methods composed of fusion of rough set and binary firefly algorithm based on community weak connection mechanism (CWLBGSO), directed acyclic graph (DAG), and Bootstrap structural equation modeling (Bootstrap SEM) are used to carry out empirical analysis of the conceptual model of function mechanism. The empirical analysis results show that strong intellectual property capability has a positive role in promoting the relay innovation performance of unicorn enterprises, knowledge matching plays the positive mediating role between intellectual property capability and relay innovation, relationship learning plays the moderating role of the relationships between intellectual property capability and relay innovation, relationship learning plays the moderating role of the relationships between intellectual property capability and knowledge matching, and relationship learning plays the moderating role of the relationships between knowledge matching and relay innovation.

Study on the evolution driving mechanism of IPM to regional economic development.

Since the implementation of the IP strategy in 2008, It has been agreed that intellectual property rights can promote regional economic development, but how to promote it is a black box. Based on the theory of system dynamics, three systems have been divided from the promoting effect of intellectual property on regional economy: intellectual property management system, technology innovation dynamic system and government policy support dynamic system. By analyzing the driving relationship among the three systems, It is found that intellectual property can promote regional economic growth through technological innovation. The government's policy support and the implementation of intellectual property strategy promote the innovation motivation of enterprises under the action of market mechanism. In the final analysis, enterprises are the main force of economic growth. They can improve the level of technological innovation through industry-university-research cooperation and other ways to obtain innovation benefits, so as to promote regional economic growth.

Fios de sutura: um mapeamento da propriedade intelectual / Suture threads: a mapping of intellectual property / Hilos de sutura: un mapeo de la propiedad intelectual

Objetivo: Determinar a situação atual das patentes de produtos e processos tecnológicos relacionados a fios de sutura depositados no Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial do Brasil. Metodologia: Foi realizado um levantamento dos depósitos na base de dados do instituto durante o mês de agosto de 2020. Resultados: Verificaram-se 72 patentes, tendo o Brasil como o maior depositante. As patentes depositadas foram categorizadas em 13 classificações internacionais de patentes, sendo a mais frequente a A61B, cujo objetivo é abranger instrumentos, implementos e processos para fins de diagnóstico e cirurgia. O setor tecnológico de equipamentos e dispositivos médico-cirúrgicos relacionados a fios de sutura apresentam amplas aplicações em diferentes tecidos orgânicos. As invenções inovam a forma de armazenamento e a resistência, reduzem o tempo de procedimento, aumentam o controle da tensão e transporte de medicamentos. Conclusões: Os produtos e processos patenteados e depositados no Brasil possibilitam maior eficiência no procedimento, proporcionando uma melhor e mais segura recuperação no período pós-operatório... (AU)

Objevtive: determine the current status of patents on products and technological processes related to suture threads deposited at the National Institute of Industrial Property in Brazil. Methodology: A survey of deposits was carried out in the Institute's database during the month of August 2020. Results: 72 patents were verified, with Brazil as the largest depositor. The patents filed were categorized into 13 International Patent Classifications, the most frequent being A61B, whose objective is to cover instruments, implements and processes for the purposes of diagnosis and surgery. The technological sector of medical-surgical equipment and devices related to suture threads wide applications in different organic tissues. The selected inventions bring benefits to storage, to the resistance of materials, to the reduction of the procedure time, to the tension control, to the vehicle of medicinal drugs, to antimicrobials, to stem cells. Conclusions: The products and processes patented and deposited in Brazil enable greater efficiency in the procedure and recovery, providing a better and safer recovery of the postoperative period... (AU)

Objetivo: Determinar la situación actual de las patentes de productos y procesos tecnológicos relacionados a hilos de sutura depositados en el Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial de Brasil. Metodologia: Fue realizado un levantamento de los depósitos en la base de datos del instituto durante el mes de agosto de 2020. Resultado: Se verificaron 72 patentes, teniendo a Brasil como el mayor depositante. Las patentes depositadas fueron categorizadas en 13 clasificaciones internacionales de patentes, siendo la más frecuente la A61B, cujo objetivo es cubrir instrumentos,implementos y procesos com fines diagnósticos y cirugia. El sector de equipamentos tecnológicos y dispositivos médico-quirúrgicos relacionados a hilos de sutura presentan amplias aplicaciones en diferentes tejidos orgánicos.. Las intervenciones innovan las formas de almacenamiento y la resisténcia, reducen el tiempo de procedimiento, aumentan el control de la tensión y transporte de medicamentos. Conclusiones: Los productos y procesos patenteados y depositados en Brasil posibilitan mayor eficiência en el procedimiento, proporcionando uma mejor y más segura recuperación en el período póst operatório... (AU)