USTR Staff Meets with Civil Society on Intellectual
Property and Access to Medicines
On August 10, USTR staff met civil
society actors to discuss the intellectual property and pharmaceutical provisions
in the Trans Pacific Partnership. Assistant US Trade Representative Stan
McCoy said that
USTR`s broad goals in the negotiation are economic integration among diverse
trading partners, and raising U.S. exports (including exports from branded and
generic drug firms). USTR wants to increase access to
medicines, and strong IP will "stabilize expectations" about when generic
entry can occur. McCoy used the word "access" to mean the entrance
of a product onto the market, and drew a distinction between "access"
and "pricing." Click here for more. <http://infojustice.org/archives/4855>
U.S. Government Seeks Comments on Strategy to Eliminate Counterfeits in the U.S.
Government Supply Chain An interagency Working Group comprised of staff from
the Office of the IP Enforcement Coordinator, Office of Management and Budget,
Department of Defense, NASA, and the General Services Administration has been formed
to "eliminate counterfeit products from the U.S. Government supply
chain." It recently issued a Federal Register Notice listing its six
core obectives, and requesting comments from the public on how to
meet them. The objectives include determining whether the government needs to
develop additional regulatory actions or increase measures needed to prosecute
offenders. Comments are due September 16. Click here for more. <http://infojustice.org/archives/4862>
Judge Denies Motion to Release Domain Names Seized in Operation In Our Sites
A federal judge has denied the Spanish company Puerto 80`s motion to release
the domains rojadirectica.com and rojadirectica.org, seized by U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement through Operation In Our Sites. The seized websites
included links to third party websites which illegally streamed copyrighted
sports events. Judge Paul Crotty held that the seizures do not cause
"substantial hardship" sufficient to justify releasing the domains, despite
a 32% reduction in traffic. Puerto 80 has moved the sites to other domains, and
he stated that the company has the ability to "simply distribute
information about the seizure and its new domain names to its
customers." Judge Crotty also first amendment arguments put forward
by Puerto 80. Click here for more. <http://infojustice.org/archives/4867>
