[e-drug] Intellectual property rights and medicines debates

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E-DRUG> Intellectual property rights and medicines debates
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[The debate about intellectual property rights (patents) and medicines is
raging on IP-HEALTH,
especially over the question whether patents obstruct access to ARVs in
Africa or not.
E-drug moderators have decided to crosspost only a small subset of that
debate to E-drug.
Those of you who want to follow the details, please add IP-HEALTH to your
email box.
Instructions can be found at:
http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/ip-health
Here is another discussion possibility.
NN]

----- Original Message -----
From: Rob Fitter
To: ip-health@venice.essential.org
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2001 11:41 AM
Subject: [Ip-health] CIPR online debate


The Commission on Intellectual Property Rights is now launching an online
discussion on the issue of the relationship between intellectual property
rights and practices, and public health in developing countries.  This comes
at an apposite time from several points of view.  Firstly, we are in the run
up to the WTO Ministerial meeting, scheduled to be held in Doha in November,
where the issue will be an important item on the agenda.  Secondly, the
report of WHO's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health is due in December.
And thirdly, the Commission is itself holding a workshop in November (by
invitation only) to discuss this issue.  We see this discussion as an
important contribution to that workshop.

We would very much appreciate your views on this subject, in particular
views supported by concrete evidence, be they statistics or stories.  We
have listed below the questions in which the Commission is particularly
interested, which may help to guide discussion.

The CIPR online debates are now being hosted on a new discussion site at
http://www.topica.com/lists/iprcommission.  The system sends out submissions
as soon as they have been moderated by the CIPR and adds them to an easily
viewed archive of submissions.  New subscribers should first register on our
list by emailing iprcommission-subscribe@topica.com.  You can then submit
comments by email to iprcommission@topica.com.

How far is IP relevant to access to medicines? The evidence.
- Patenting strategies of pharmaceutical companies - what is the rationale?
Why do companies take out patents in developing countries, or why not?
- Do patents affect the availability and price of pharmaceuticals, and if
so, to what extent?
- Should the IP system be differentiated according to a country's level of
development, in particular in relation to public health?  Does HIV/AIDS
present specific issues of IP policy?
- Will it be necessary to alter IP rules to facilitate tiered pricing,
particularly in respect of parallel importing?
- Should compulsory licensing be routine, or a last resort? How can it be
made effective for countries with no manufacturing capability?
- Do current patent practices unnecessarily prolong market exclusivity?  Is
there evidence that the effective monopoly period is unfairly extended by
trivial modifications to the original patent? Do other IP rules and
practices (e.g. on disclosure of information) prevent legitimate
competition?

How much is IP protection necessary to encourage research and innovation on
diseases affecting developing countries? The evidence
- To what extent is the lack of R&D on diseases affecting developing
countries a product of inadequate IP protection as opposed to lack of
effective demand for the products of research?
- Is there evidence that the scope of IP protection is now restricting
research and innovation?
- Does the extension of product protection to developing countries
significantly affect expenditures on relevant R&D for developing countries?
- How real is the trade-off between strengthening IP protection and the cost
and availability of medicines and vaccines?

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