In the News

Rwanda and Canada First to use public health measure under WTO TRIPS Agreement

In September, Canada became the first country to use the waiver from the TRIPS Agreement provisions to issue a compulsory license authorizing a company to make a generic version of a patented drug for export. The Canadian government authorized Apotex to export 260,000 packs of Apo-Triavar - enough to treat 21,000 AIDS patients for a year - to be delivered to Rwanda.

TRIPS Agreement provisions allow governments to issue compulsory licenses to manufacture generic versions of patented drugs predominantly for domestic use. However, as many developing countries lack the manufacturing capacity to make their own generic drugs, WTO members decided in August 2003 to create a way to allow countries to issue compulsory licenses to allow the export of generic version of patented drugs to countries unable to produce them and in turn to allow their import by such countries.

Canada was the first exporting country that transposed the waiver into its national laws, through initial legislation in 2004 and the Canadian Access to Medicine Regime (CAMR) in 2005. However it took another two years to complete the required notifications as well as negotiating with the patent holder before issuing and to issue the first compulsory license.

Apotex announced that the drug would initially cost US$0.405 per tablet, compared to US$20 per tablet for the brand-name equivalent, and would drop in price further once production of the active pharmaceutical ingredients increased.

Introducing The Cat Magnet

And the winner is - the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for The Cat Magnet. Some mistake surely? No. The Cat Magnet, a humorous public service film that encourages young people to be inventive and to protect their inventions, won the New York Advertising Week Dove Award at the Advertising Community Together (ACT) Responsible Exhibition in September.

The Cat Magnet is part of the Inspiring Invention publicity campaign launched by the USPTO in April 2007. All the ads feature ingenious inventions by young creators. The inventions are made with everyday objects, and offer solutions to those little challenges which kids face. The...