[Ip-health] James Love in The Huffington Post: Obama Administration Embraces Corporate Lobbyists on IP Issues in Geneva

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-love/obama-administration-embr_b_168304=
.html

Obama Administration Embraces Corporate Lobbyists on IP Issues in Geneva
James Love, The Huffington Post

Today IP-Watch has an amazing story of an Obama administration trip to
Geneva to discuss intellectual property issues. Apparently the USPTO
organized the trip, which included several Obama officials, plus these
congressional staff:

Today IP-Watch has an amazing story of an Obama administration trip to
Geneva to discuss intellectual property issues. Apparently the USPTO
organized the trip, which included several Obama officials, plus these
congressional staff:

     "Christal Sheppard, counsel for House of Reprentatives Judiciary
Committee Chairman John Conyers of Michigan (Democrat); John Mautz,
legislative director for Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina; and
Matthew Sandgren, counsel for Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, the ranking
Republican on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust,
Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Erik Stallman, senior
legislative counsel for California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who is on the
House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Courts and Competition
Policy, the Congressional Anti-Piracy Caucus and the IP Caucus; and
Philip Tahtakran, legislative director and counsel for California Rep.
Adam Schiff, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee,
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related
Agencies, and co-chair of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy
Caucus, and on the IP Caucus)."

Geneva is an important place, with a lot going on. There is the World
Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the
World Intellectual Property Organiation (WIPO), and lots more. There
are also plenty of civil society groups who follow IP negotiations,
such as our organization, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), MSF,
Oxfam, Third World Network, IQSenato, etc.

So who did the Obama administration schedule to meet with the
Congressional staff?

     "The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and
Associations (IFPMA, now headed by former US official Alicia
Greenidge); and law firm Sidley Austin, which also represented the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America at the meeting.
Finally, they attended a roundtable on "How to Shape a Positive Agenda
on IP" with General Electric (GE), Business Software Alliance (BSA)
and IFPMA. GE was represented by Thaddeus Burns, senior corporate
counsel and former US IP attach=E9 in Geneva, BSA by Francisco
Mingorance, director of public policy Europe, and IFPMA by Greenidge."

People at the USPTO have been telling me that Obama will be continuing
the George Bush policies on intellectual property rights. So far, it
is hard to argue otherwise.


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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997