Summary -
Last year the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), under a threat of a vote, accelerated negotiations on an international legal instrument related to intellectual property (IP) and genetic resources...more
10/31/2023
/ Biotechnology ,
Comment Period ,
Deadlines ,
Genetic Materials ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Harmonization ,
Life Sciences ,
Patent Law Treaty ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
USPTO ,
WIPO
Key Points -
The EU aims to harmonize patent protection rules and flexibilities with a layer on top of national rules. This is in line with long-term efforts by the EU institutions to harmonize patent rules and motivated,...more
On 30 March 2023, the United Kingdom Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNEZ) and the UK Treasury opened a public consultation on policies to reduce carbon leakage risk and support decarbonisation, especially in...more
With the enactment of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the announcement of the European Union (EU) Green Deal Industrial Plan, there is now a full-fledged subsidy war between the United States and the European...more
On February 1, the USITC formally announced the opening of its investigation into the merits of expanding the TRIPS Waiver to diagnostics and treatments. The investigation was initially requested by USTR, who had been leading...more
Key Points -
The co-legislators of the EU recently reached a provisional agreement on a regulation for a CBAM.
CBAM will require importers to the EU of covered carbon-intensive products to pay a charge for the carbon...more
Key Points -
On January 13, 2023, the OECD launched a public consultation process to gather comments from stakeholders regarding potential changes to its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Stakeholders wishing to...more
Key Points -
On December 6, days before a deadline for WTO members to decide whether to expand the TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines to cover COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics as well, the Office of the USTR...more
12/9/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Onshoring ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Prescription Drugs ,
TRIPS Agreement ,
Vaccinations ,
Waivers ,
WTO
During the plenary session held the first week of June, the European Parliament voted on several items related to the European Union’s (EU) “Fit for 55” climate package. Debate and division continue to be strong. Key...more
Key Points -
The United States and its allies are banning imports or increasing tariffs on Russia’s top products—crude oil, petroleum, petroleum fuels, oils, liquefied natural gas, coal, fish, seafood, alcohol,...more
- On May 18, 2020, the government of Brazil submitted its application for accession to the WTO GPA, which will further open the Brazilian government procurement market to foreign producers and foreign service providers and...more
Investment facilitation is among the new generation issues being discussed at the World Trade Organization (WTO), alongside issues such as electronic commerce and digital trade. The concept of “investment facilitation” refers...more
- A group of 46 WTO members representing over half of world trade have brought into operation an agreement to ensure that WTO dispute settlement continues to operate smoothly until the standing Appellate Body is...more
- After four years of negotiations, the EU and Mexico announced on April 28, 2020, the finalization of an updated free trade agreement between them. This is expected to further boost the significant bilateral trade and...more
In the aftermath of Brexit, the United Kingdom is faced with the challenge of negotiating a relationship with the European Union that balances Single Market access with national control over the movement of goods and workers....more
In the aftermath of Brexit, the United Kingdom is faced with the challenge of negotiating a relationship with the European Union that balances Single Market access with national control over the movement of goods and workers....more
In the aftermath of Brexit, the United Kingdom is faced with the challenge of negotiating a relationship with the EU that balances Single Market access with national control over the movement of goods and workers. This...more
In the aftermath of Brexit, the United Kingdom is faced with the challenge of negotiating a relationship with the European Union that balances Single Market access with national control over the movement of goods and workers....more
The UK vote to Brexit has material economic, financial, commercial, political, legal and social implications. Once the UK government has formally notified the European Council of its citizens’ decision to leave the EU, the UK...more
The UK vote to Brexit has material economic, financial, commercial, political, legal and social implications. Once the UK government has formally notified the European Council of its citizens’ decision to leave the EU, the UK...more
On March 6, 2015, Ecuador announced that it is imposing a balance of payments safeguard consisting of import tariffs between 5 and 45 percent on approximately 32 percent of products. The safeguard measure becomes effective on...more
On December 7, 2013, the 159 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) approved a new Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF), which is meant to expedite and streamline the customs processing of imports and exports. The ATF...more