Enabling Innovation Policies
IP strategy is a global business strategy
Learn how to protect your intellectual property (IP) domestically and internationally at Phoenix (PHX) Startup Week. Join Wayne Stacy, Director of the USPTO’s Silicon Valley Regional Office, and Ruth Soberanes, International Trade Specialist for the U.S. Commercial Services – Phoenix, in a discussion of why and how startups should consider protecting their intellectual property (IP), what to expect when selling domestically vs. internationally, and U.S. government resources available to assist startups going global. PHX Startup Week is a five-day online event providing education, connection, and support to entrepreneurs in collaboration with StartupAZ Foundation. Registration is required, but the USPTO does not charge any fees associated with registration.
Podcast about vaccines and IP protection
Munk Debates wants to help the world rediscover the art of civil and substantive public debate by convening the brightest thinkers of our time to weigh in on the big issues of the day. Their debate on vaccines provides two interesting perspectives on the vaccine rollout and IP protection.
Are Chinese politics a threat to the patent system?
In this 2-minute video, Gaétan de Rassenfosse, Chair of Innovation and IP Policy at EPFL, explains that foreign companies operating in China are less likely to have their patent applications granted than their Chinese counterparts. This discrimination occurs in technologies of strategic importance to the Chinese government, particularly in the telecommunication and biotech industries.
Beyond the Contract: Building a Trade Secret Protection Culture
As Craig Moss, Executive Vice President of Ethisphere, explains in his article, the increasing prevalence of sensitive digital information has led companies to rely more heavily on trade secret protection as an IP strategy. At the same time, however, the increase in digital activity makes trade secret protection more difficult, as digital assets are easier to copy and move than physical ones. Furthermore, effective protection can be even more difficult because trade secrets often need to be shared with third parties—such as contract manufacturers, R&D centers, resellers, and joint venture partners—in the normal course of business.
How to Safeguard AI Technology: Patents versus Trade Secrets
The article above describes a common difficulty of intellectual property (IP) claims for artificial intelligence (AI): patent claims for AI are often deemed to be no more than abstract ideas. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has established a number of specific categories of AI in order to distil its definition, but the overarching theme amongst these categories is that, if a human mind can accomplish a particular task, it is likely an abstract idea. Of course, AI is, by its nature, an attempt to replicate the human mind, albeit in perhaps a stylized or exaggerated fashion; thus, the difficulty of patenting this technology is readily apparent.
In addition to with patents, legal battles also remain with regard to trade secrets. Rather than engage in litigation to prove infringement, a company seeking to protect a trade secret must instead demonstrate that the secret was misappropriated and that it took reasonable measures to maintain confidentiality. The distinction between patents and trade secrets remains very important for companies: trade secret law undoubtedly offers protection where patents do not, and vice versa.
Covid Vaccines: Intellectual Property and Access, a Melting Pot of Viewpoints
Innovation Council member SARIMA has published an article by Dr Andrew Bailey, in which he explains the various views on the issue of access to IP in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. He sees a need for governments to build capacity in the manufacture of vaccines, in order to both meet local demand and assist with pandemic response.
During the pandemic, there was incredible collaboration across institutional, corporate, and national boundaries to address the urgent health crisis. Bailey hopes that this experience will shape global thinking about collaboration, and about how to ensure equitable access to healthcare whilst taking care to properly respect the infrastructural investments, trade secrets, and know-how of manufacturers.
Updated ICC innovation principles
The Innovation Chamber of Commerce has published the latest edition of the ICC Innovation Principles, a guide to the policy frameworks that create and nurture robust innovation ecosystems. The principles are separated into four sections, which provide an overview of the policy framework that businesses of all sizes need to be familiar with in order to innovate. The principles focus on Innovation Ecosystems, in recognition of the complex and interconnected nature of innovative activity. A call is made for multistakeholder conversations in all policy forums that affect these ecosystems, allowing businesses to show the inner workings of innovation.
Policy discussions and actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
Below we’ve provided a round-up of recent developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers are working to identify and execute the best policies for pandemic preparedness and healthcare delivery, against a difficult backdrop. Innovators and other actors must step forward to provide their insights and experiences on the ground, whether in relation to IP, trade, regulatory or other types of policies.
African Union backs call to waive IP rights on COVID-19 drugs
The African Union is backing calls for drugmakers to waive some intellectual property rights on COVID-19 medicines and vaccines to speed up their rollout to poor countries.
Senator calls on Biden to reject COVID IP waiver
Thom Tillis, ranking member of the senate IP subcommittee, has urged US president Joe Biden to oppose ‘harmful’ proposals to waive rights related to COVID-19 vaccines currently in discussions at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
U.S. Chamber opposes WTO waiver of vaccine intellectual property rights
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it opposed calls for the World Trade Organization to back a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights to speed coronavirus vaccine production in poor countries, calling them “misguided”.
U.S. Extends Tariff Exclusion on China Virus Supplies 6 Months
The U.S. is extending exclusions on tariffs for face masks, cleaning supplies and other personal protective equipment from China for six months, providing protection against higher costs as the nation fights the Covid-19 pandemic.
The move affects 99 different products, according to a draft of the notice by the U.S. Trade Representative seen by Bloomberg News. The exclusions, extended in December, will now run through the end of September 2021.
UNCTAD Paper Examines Linkages Between Non-Tariff Measures and SDGs
According to this paper, of all the NTMs adopted in response to the pandemic, almost 60 per cent were put in place to ensure adequate and affordable domestic supplies of medical goods and other essential items to combat the virus.
To minimize potential adverse impacts on trade and sustainability, the paper recommends policymakers first consider whether an NTM is needed or whether there are alternatives, then design high-quality NTMs where they are needed and implement them strategically with full transparency to inform other countries and the private sector of the measure.
EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Implications for Life Sciences Companies
The widely anticipated EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the Agreement) came into effect on 1 January 2021 after several difficult months of negotiations. The Agreement aims to ease trade barriers resulting from the UK leaving the EU and includes positive developments for life sciences companies. However, according to this article, the Agreement does not address all of the concerns raised by the life sciences industry, and significant gaps and areas for further discussion remain between the EU and the UK as the Agreement is implemented. This Client Alert from 03 March 2021 sets out key aspects of the Agreement for life sciences companies.
Bio-Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and R&D: The Impact of Policy Coherence in Trade Policy
This Innovation Council working paper illustrates the importance of policy coherence in the realm of biopharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D. Specifically, it shows that investing in diversified, geographically dispersed sources of R&D and production can increase manufacturing capacity and strengthen health security by complementing existing pharmaceutical production chains, thus making them less vulnerable to future supply chain shocks. It shows that counterproductive trade measures, such as tariffs on the development and production of vaccines and other health technologies, can slow development, and that—especially in light of the experience of Covid-19—distributed manufacturing and R&D capabilities are particularly useful in the area of biopharmaceuticals.