By Nathaniel DeLucia

As the fight against Ebola continues, with some 9,216 reported cases worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to look for new ways to combat the disease.  The WHO has been using the anti-bodies from Ebola survivors and traditional anti-virals to try and contain the disease.  Additionally, the WHO is considering the implementation of vaccines, which were quickly developed by pharmaceutical companies.  These vaccines, if they prove to be as effective as initially suspected, could dramatically slow the spread of Ebola.  The problem is the cost.  These vaccines are the intellectual property of their respective companies, who often own several patents on them.  The challenge for the WHO is to work with international grant and licensing companies to try and acquire these vaccines at a lower price.

For the complete story on the tension between patent laws and the need for cheap medicine to fight Ebola, check out IP-Watch’s article, here.

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November 12, 2014

By Nathaniel DeLucia

One of the most important discussions in international and United States law is currently underway, although most Americans probably have no idea, that of patent law reform.  Yes I know, patent law is not nearly as sexy as “counter-terrorism” or “Ebola” (though this does involve patent law as I will explain later).  However, the recent trend to reform and unify the world’s patent laws has the potential to have a tremendous impact on international trade.

Last month, the world’s top IP leaders (the U.S., Japan, Korea, China, and the EU) announced efforts to reduce differences in patent laws. 

Before we dive into current events, it’s important to get some background information.  To start, patent law is fundamentally a matter of domestic law; each country has its own patent laws and its own patent system.  Thus, if a company wants protection in multiple countries, they will have to file patent applications in each relevant country.  

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November 03, 2014

By Ena Cefo

The Ebola health crisis has struck some of West Africa’s poorest countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, which are still recovering from decades of political instability and violence. The over 2,400 deaths in the region and a near-collapse of the health care systems in the countries, is a block to the governments’ attempts to improve their domestic human rights conditions. Human Rights Watch has criticized the West African governments for inadequate efforts to provide protections to health workers, arbitrary quarantine orders, excessive use of force by the security forces responding to the health crisis, and inadequate education of women, who are most vulnerable to the disease as a result of their societal roles. While the final responsibility for theses issues lies with the West African governments, the political and economic conditions within the countries call for further international assistance to assure the right to health in the struggling nations.

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October 21, 2014

By Derek Hunter

An overlooked factor in the worsening Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia is the devastating economic effect of the disease. These countries are some of the poorest in the world, and now their fragile economies are being presented with a toxic mix of insufficient government funding for health services, human capital flight in vital economic sectors such as agriculture, and a de facto (and sometimes official) quarantine from abroad. 

In response to these problems, the International Monetary Fund is seeking to expand its preexisting bailout programs to these countries. The Wall Street Journal discusses the (noble, but insufficient) financial support being provided by the IMF and other financial institutions to help these countries combat the Ebola epidemic.

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September 26, 2014