News

IQsensato Studies 2 (working draft) – “The Development Agenda and the Changing Face of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)“

IQsensato is pleased, on this occassion of the World Intellectual Property Day and the start of the Fifth Session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), to share our latest publication titled “The Development Agenda and the Changing Face of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)”. This Study, presented under the IQsensato Studies series, was authoured by Sisule Musungu.

The Study, in its current form, is a working draft and feedback is welcome. You can send comments or suggestions and criticisms to the author at sisule@iqsensato.org.  Read the full document here…

Book Review - The Politics of Climate Change by Anthony Giddens

This book was written before Copenhagen and is therefore not encumbered by it. However, again and again you will mouth “but how did he know?” - the book’s contents are scarily on target. Very simply and with enormous accessibility, Giddens answers the questions. He does not stop at the relatively easy description “because people discount the future and want their profit now”; he explains why and what might be needed now. Read the full review here…

IQsensato Studies 1 – “Innovation and Intellectual Property in the EC-CARIFORUM EPA: Lessons for Other ACP Regions”

This first publication in the IQsensato Studies series analyses the innovation and intellectual property (IP) provisions in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Community (EC) and its Member States and 15 Caribbean countries grouped together as CARIFORUM.

In particular, the study considers if, and in which ways, the obligations assumed by CARIFORUM countries extend the obligations assumed by these countries under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in a manner that compromises their ability to address their development needs, a situation commonly referred to as TRIPS-plus. Read the full document here…

Book Review – Realizing the Right to Health edited by Andrew Clapham and Mary Robinson, Claire Mahon and Scott Jerbi

Some books are meant to be things of beauty and this is one of them, but it is also an accessible, interesting, stimulating and useful read that covers the breadth and depth of the subject with an ease that is often missing. For the student of health or human rights it’s all here. For those who think they know it all, this is one of the best reminders of the main streams and tributaries of a complex subject area - which for many of us is politically and ethically obvious but can sometimes be difficult to argue in the marketplace. Read the full review here…

In Focus Volume 3 Number 3 - Main Lessons from the WTO’s Case on the European Communities - Protection of Trademarks and Geographical Indications for Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs

Geneva, 10 August 2009: IQsensato today published the latest edition of In Focus, which looks at the first World Trade Organization Panel decision on geographical indications. The significance of the findings extend far beyond the facts of the case itself, providing relevant lessons for policy makers and stakeholders. This case is the expression of continuing tensions between the European Union and the United States, as well as some other ‘New World’ countries over their approaches to the protection of geographic names as a sign of a product’s reputation and quality, and their International Registration, which is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Read the abstract and paper here…

Book Review - Implementing the WIPO Development Agenda, edited by Jeremy de Beer

This is a book that essentially calls for radical change in WIPO. It is a serious effort to understand where WIPO came from and how it got where it is today. Change is only possible when the baseline condition is known and understood, and this book is invaluable for anyone looking at institutional change and how to change WIPO. Read the review here…

GSDR 3 – Book Launch: Implementing the WIPO’s Development Agenda

Geneva, 10 July 2009: A launch seminar for this twelve-chapter book, edited by Jeremy de Beer with a Foreword by Daniel J. Gervais and an Afterword by Christopher May. Chapter contributors include leading scholars and thinkers from around the world. Learn more…

A Pilot Monitoring Tool: Monitoring the implementation of the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights

Geneva, May 2009: This questionnaire has been developed jointly by Health Action International Africa (HAI Africa) and IQsensato. The tool is designed to monitor the implementation of the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights (GS). In its current draft form, it is being piloted in Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Kenya. The pilot process has already highlighted the need to prepare a short guide for each question, which will increase awareness of the type of information that is being collected. Access the paper here…

GSDR 2 – Copyright and Access to Educational and Learning Materials in Africa: Evidence from an eight Country Study Project

Geneva, 20th May 2009: This seminar will present the research findings of the African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project following more than 18 months of empirical work involving a network of over 30 independent experts from law, economics, information sciences and gender studies, based almost exclusively in Africa. Learn more…

In Focus Volume 3 Number 2 - The WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property: Taking Leadership in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Geneva, 16 May 2009: IQsensato today published the latest edition of In Focus, which formulates a policy proposal to governments in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) aimed at promoting the creation of a regional platform for implementing the WHO Global Strategy on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property. Access the abstract and paper here…

IQsensato Launches “New Voices in Research” - A Platform for Fresh Perspectives

Geneva, 27 April 2009: IQsensato today launched its flagship publication for the Leadership in Research Programme, “New Voices in Research”. In this first issue, we carry the winning essays of the WIPO Development Agenda writing competition. Read on…

In Focus Volume 3 Number 1 - Implementing the WHO Global Strategy on Public Health, Innovation and IP: an opportunity that should not be squandered by poor implementation.

Geneva, 12 March 2009: In this In Focus, Nicoletta Dentico, IQsensato’s Health Policy Advisor, argues that the implementation of the WHO Global Strategy on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property should be seen as an incremental endeavour towards establishing a longer-term approach to ensuring sustainable financing and access to essential health research. Access the abstract and paper here…

IQsensato President Presents at Rwanda Validation Workshop for a New IP Policy

Kigali, 10 March 2009: Today, IQsensato’s President, Sisule Musungu, who is working as a Consultant for UNCTAD and ICTSD, will be presenting at Rwanda’s National Workshop to validate the country’s draft intellectual property (IP) policy and IP technical assistance needs assessment diagnostic in Kigali. Read more about this project…

Working Paper 3 on “Geographical Indications” Released

Geneva, 10 February 2009: IQsensato today released Working Paper 3 titled “Geographical Indications and Socio-Economic Development” written by Dr. Daphne Zografos. You can access the abstract and the paper here…

Director of Research Attends Policy Forum on Health Innovation in Nairobi

Nairobi, 9 February 2009: IQsensato’s Director of Research, Padmashree Gehl Sampath, will be attending ACTS-Innogen sponsored policy forum and practitioner’s workshop on “Health Innovation and Health Systems: Towards Interconnectedness” at the ICRAF Campus in Nairobi, Kenya from 9 - 11 February 2009. In particular, she will be presenting on “Building Private Sector Capacity in Health Innovations and Health Systems in Africa”. Read more about the forum…

IQsensato’s Director of Research Teaches at Policy Makers Course on Innovation in New Delhi

New Delhi, 2 February 2009: IQsensato’s Research Director, Padmashree Gehl Sampath, will be teaching a module on “Innovation, IPRs and Development: Opportunities and Threats” in the policy makers course on Design and Evaluation of Innovation Policies (DEIP) which is jointly organised by UNU-MERIT and the Centre for Development Studies in New Delhi from 2 - 7 February 2009.

IQsensato President Speaks at IPU Regional Training Seminar in Cape Town

Cape Town, 20 January 2009: IQsensato’s President was one of the guest speakers at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Regional Training Seminar for the Parliament of SADC and EAC which takes place on 20th and 21st January 2009 in Capetown. The seminars main focus is on “How Parliaments Can Improve Access to HIV Treatments”. Read more…

IQsensato Co-Hosts Roundtable on Prizes

Geneva, 18 January 2009: On 16th and 17th January 2009, IQsensato together with Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), Health Action International (HAI), Doctors without Borders (MSF), Oxfam and Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) organised in Geneva, Switzerland, a Roundtable on “Designing Innovation Inducing Prizes for Chagas and TB”. Read more on this event…

IQsensato President Speaks on Opening Panel of TACD Conference in Washington D.C.

Washington D.C, 12 January 2009: IQsensato’s President, Sisule Musungu was one of speakers on the opening panel of the TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) Conference which opened today in Washington D.C., U.S.A on “Patents, Copyrights and Knowledge Governance: The Next Four Years”. At the conference, which featured two Nobel prize winners and a host of other international experts, Sisule focused his talk on the opportunities for the Obama Administration and the EU ‘to do good’ on patent and copyright policy in the next four years. Read more about the conference…

IQsensato Admitted as Permanent Observer to WIPO

Geneva, 1 October 2008: At the Forty-fifth series of Meetings of the WIPO General Assemblies held from 22 to 29 September 2008, IQsensato was admitted as a permanent observer to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Further information on the WIPO website at http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2008/article_0048.html. The admission entitles IQsensato to attend a range of WIPO meetings and participate in various processes at WIPO.

IQsensato featured in IP-Watch

Geneva, 3 September 2008: IP-Watch, a leading independent news service on global intellectual property policies and issues, has featured IQsensato’s work on intellectual property. The full story is available at http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1208

Leadership Programme News

Geneva, 24 June 2008. IQsensato has launched its activities under its leadership development programme. In this context:

• Sisule Musungu will be supervising the preparation of a master’s thesis at the World Trade Institute’s (WTI) MILE Programme on access to medicines and the utilisation of the 30th August 2003 WTO Decision.
• Mr. Musungu will, in June - July 2008, also be acting as an external examiner in the research component of the Trade and Investment in Africa masters programme of the University of Pretoria and University of Western Cape.

Two New Working Papers Released

Geneva, 28 March 2008. IQsensato has launched a Working Papers series and today released two new working papers on the Implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda. The two papers contain preliminary commentary of the working documents prepared for the first session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP). The papers are available at here.

New Research Associates

Geneva, 28 March 2008. Two new research associates have joined the IQsensato Research Associates network. The two are Dr. Fabio Morosini from Brazil and Felix Maonera from Zimbabwe. This brings the total number of Research Associates to 14 from nine developing countries. The bios of the new Research Associates can be viewed here.

IQsensato’s Asfaha Leaves the South Centre for ILO Training Institute

Geneva, 5 February 2008. Samuel Asfaha, a non-executive director at IQsensato, will be leaving the South Centre at the end of this week to join the Turin-based International Training Centre (ITC) of the ILO. At ITC-ILO Samuel will be working on social dimensions of trade investment policy. Speaking about his move Samuel said “I am looking forward to work in a dynamic and challenging research, policy and academic environment”.

The Research and Strategy Advisory Group (R&SA Group)

Geneva, 21 January 2008. IQsensato established this advisory group to advise the Management Board on:

• Research priorities and strategy;
• The development and implementation of projects; and
• Evaluation and assessment of the organisation’s research and policy work.

The R&SA Group is a critical part of IQsensato’s efforts to ensure the quality and relevance of its research and policy analysis. The Group enables the organisation to critically review its strategic research priorities and take into account changing circumstances and emerging issues. (more…)

Recruitment of Research Associates Begins

Geneva, 11 January 2008. To implement its core mission, harnessing the expertise and talent of the South to better impact international policy-making, discussions and debates on its areas of focus, IQsensato has began an active process to recruit research associates to join its research and policy analysis network. This will be a continuous process, but the names and bios of the first batch of associates, including their areas of expertise, will be released in the first week of December 2007.

To join the IQsensato research and policy analysis network or to suggest possible candidates send an e-mail, with a two to three paragraph bio and an indication of areas of expertise and interest to info@iqsensato.org.

IQsensato Profiles kicks off to a flying start!

Geneva, 14 November 2007. The “IQsensato Profiles”, launched on 14 November 2007, was very well received! IQsensato received many messages of congratulations and other feedback demonstrating the value of this service. The feedback included catch-phrases ranging from “IQsensato Profiles is a great idea” to “great first choice for the profiles” through to “innovative”.

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