Use of Benefit Corporations to Accelerate Access to Affordable Vaccines
Julie Bateman Low- and middle-income countries face the heaviest burden from vaccine-preventable diseases, yet many of these countries cannot afford critical vaccines. Vaccines are often protected by patents so that pharmaceutical companies can recoup development costs. Consequently, vaccine manufacturers in developing countries must wait until the patents expire to produce lower-cost generic vaccines. Additionally, when the development of new vaccines relies on existing patents, such development is hindered. Benefit corporations offer an opportunity for the private and public sectors to align interests in accelerating critical vaccine development. Vaccine developers, restructured as benefit corporations, could commit to both special licensing agreements...
Utility Models and Their Comparison with Patents and Implications for the US Intellectual Property Law System
Hans-Peter Brack European Patent Office (EPO) practice, guided by the European Patent Convention (EPC) is in many aspects very similar to Europe’s national patent practice, such as the German patent law. In this article, the US practitioner is briefly reminded of some of the considerable differences between US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent prosecution practice and its European counterparts, primarily the EPO. The utility model is highlighted and discussed using the patent laws of Germany as a case study for comparison. Additionally, this paper examines the potential benefits of utility model protection in the US, as well as what...
The 1997 GATS Agreement on Basic Telecommunications: A Triumph for Multilateralism, or the Market?
Eric Senunas On February 15, 1997, sixty-nine governments signed an agreement seeking to liberalize the world telecommunications market – a market, according to Renato Ruggiero, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), worth “well over half a trillion dollars per year.” According to Ruggiero, these sixty-nine countries making commitments account for more than 90% of telecommunications revenue worldwide. In a statement issued February 17, 1997, Ruggerio congratulated the governments for their “determination and foresight in bringing this negotiation to a successful conclusion.” Perhaps in acknowledgment of the many delays in concluding the agreement, Ruggiero said that not all the...