[Ip-health] Gowers review of intellectual property (UK govt. report on IPRs)

[Rohit Malpani]

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The UK government released a new report on intellectual property rights
- I've pulled out some relevant recommendations and passages related to
IP/health issues.



A link to the report can be found at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/gowers_review_intellec
tual_property/gowersreview_responses_organisations.cfm




Relevant recommendations:



Recommendation 5: UKPO should undertake joint working with African
patent offices from mid-2007, with the aim of:

* helping them to take advantage of the flexibilities currently existing
in the WTO/TRIPS architecture where appropriate; and

* encouraging them to make positive use of IP rights through
dissemination of information in patents.

Recommendation 6: Encourage the international community under the
auspices of the WTO to review the

TRIPS status of the least developed countries prior to 2016 and consider
whether further extension for reaching TRIPS compliance would be
appropriate.

Recommendation 7: Government should encourage WTO members to ratify the
amendments to TRIPS to make importation of drugs easier and cheaper.





Passages from the text:



(1)     "The development of today's richer countries suggests that
'weaker' IP may be more suited to countries in development.  In its
formative stages of development the USA sought to develop by
appropriating technology from Europe."



(2)     "Simply strengthening the IP system in developing countries
would not necessarily facilitate foreign investment.  Furthermore, there
are costs associated with issuing and enforcing IP rights, both for
consumers who face higher prices for goods and for stretched government
finances in staffing IP offices with trained experts."



(3)     "The economic evidence and, in particular, the history of
currently developed countries suggest that a single one-size-fits-all is
inappropriate....it has little impact on innovation in developing
countries without the capacity to innovate, and it may impose additional
costs.  Given that different IP regimes are more appropriate at
different stages of development, it would make sense to allow individual
nations to choose when to strengthen their IP regimes, rather than to
seek to enforce a certain perspective."



(4)     "For least developed countries (LDCs), which have not yet
developed their own technology base, the best means of encouraging
technology transfer is to utilize the freedoms and flexibilities that
exist in TRIPS."



(5)     "The UK Patent Office also has good contacts with offices in
developing countries.  However, there is potential for further joint
working."



(6)     "In the longer term it would be helpful for the international
community to enable the least developed countries to 'strengthen' IP
regimes as and when it suited them.  Indeed, it has already been
recognized that the least developed countries (in the WTO) may need
longer to implement some of the requirements of TRIPS than the present
deadline of 2016."



(7)     "Conditions in TRIPS can hinder the effectiveness of compulsory
licensing. TRIPS only allows licensees to provide drugs to their
domestic market.  So, only a firm in a developing country could produce
the drugs for sale in that country. But developing countries often lack
sufficient manufacturing capacity to produce drugs. This renders
compulsory licensing provisions of limited use.



(8)     "In 2001 it was acknowledge in the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and
Public Health that developing countries with "insufficient or no
manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector could face
difficulties in making effective use of compulsory licensing under the
TRIPS Agreement". In 2003, to address this problem, a Decision of the
General Council enabled developing countries to import drugs made under
compulsory licences abroad until 2007. TRIPS has been amended to make
this suspension permanent, but it needs to be ratified by two-thirds of
the WTO members to come into effect. The Review urges the Government to
take whatever steps it can to ensure that this amendment comes into
effect before the temporary suspension elapses in December 2007.



(9)   It also believes that the Government should look favorably on any
future proposals to amend TRIPS that may be necessary to address the
public health crisis in developing countries.