World Health Assembly: Is a compulsory licensing a solution against the high price of medicines?
The Sixty-eighth session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) took place in Geneva 18–26 May 2015. One of the issues that have been addressed was the high prices of medicines in Europe. Actually this is a growing problem in the EU. In the past few years the price of the medicines have been increasing exceeding the ability of the patients to pay for it. It is enough to recall the recent case involving the drugs to treat hepatitis C (HCV) which have an unsustainable price when compared to previous generation treatments.
Moral Rights on Protected Works
The Court of First Instance of Turin has ordered a preliminary injunction regarding the protection of moral rights of the author of a work protected under copyright. The case was brought before the court by Riccardo Pagani and the defendant was his former employer Leo Burnett Company Srl.
DC Comics vs Rihanna, a battle over the name "ROBYN”
A battle of titans is happening. It all started when Rihanna’s firm attempted to trademark the name “Robyn” on June 23, 2014. DC Comics subsequently filed a “Notice of Opposition” to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). DC Comics has advocated that Rihanna’s trademark will create a likelihood of confusion on the part of consumers because the trademark “in sight, sound and commercial impression virtually identical to DC Comic’s trademark.”. Furthermore, DC Comics has also argued that Rhianna’s trademark is diluting the distinctiveness and the goodwill of the name “ROBIN”.
SEYCHELLES: The New Industrial Property Act
The Industrial Property Act 2014 in the Seychelles entry into force on March 1, 2015.
The key contributions of the new Act include:
Trademarks:
EU: European Copyright Society defends an unification of copyright law
After the new European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, the new the German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union, Günther Oettinger, took office, the European Copyright Society issued a letter claiming for a unification of the European Copyright Law.
EU: Portuguese winery company defeats Messi
Lionel Messi is currently battling another Portuguese. This time, however, Cristiano Ronaldo is not in the picture, given that this time, Messi is facing a Portuguese wine company, which is unwilling to allow Messi to sell his wine “Leo” in Europe.
In 2010, Leonel Messi has joined the Argentine wine company Bianchi, which union lead to the commercialization of the wine “Leo”. However, upon attempting to sale the wine in Europe, Casa Ermelinda de Freitas stepped in to prevent this situation.