FTPL to picket at DTIC
Fix The Patent Laws Coalition will picket outside the Department of Trade and Industry to call for patent reform for access to medicines.
SAVE LIVES NOW: SUPPORT THE COVID-19 TRIPS WAIVER
Save lives now: support the Covid-19 TRIPS Waiver! South African Civil Society organisations call on countries blocking the proposal at the WTO to change their vote.
Fix the Patent Laws supports proposal to facilitate access to COVID-19 vaccines
Fix the Patent Laws Coalition supports South Africa and India’s proposal to facilitate access to COVID-19 vaccines 15 October 2020, Johannesburg – The Fix the Patent Laws Coalition (FTPL), a group of over 40 organisations working to reform South Africa’s patent laws, welcomes the progressive proposal by South Africa and Continue Reading
Copyright Amendment Bill 2015
SECTION27’s submission to the Department of Trade and Industry on the Copyright Amendment Bill 2015 SECTION27’s primary interest in intellectual property policy and law reform flows from its understanding of the manner and extent to which patent protection has been used to undermine access to medicines. As part of the Continue Reading
Report: Civil Society meeting on the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and voluntary licenses
On 9 – 10 November 2012, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), SECTION27 and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) brought together global treatment activists to discuss guiding principles and access maximising provisions for terms and conditions that should be sought in the licenses negotiated by the MPP and others.
TAC intervention leads to important legal advance: public interest concerns are relevant in determining interim interdict in patent cases
On 26 July 2012, the Supreme Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in the matter between the Aventis group of pharmaceutical companies and Cipla’s group of generic pharmaceutical companies.
This is the first judgment to decisively say that public interest considerations must be taken into account when balancing the interests of the patentee and the infringer in determining whether or not to grant an interim interdict. The judgment is an important advance in the law that is in line with the values of the Constitution.
SECTION27 intervenes in Aventis v Cipla on behalf of TAC
4 May 2012 The TAC National Council has resolved to seek admission in a legal dispute between the brand name drug company Aventis Pharma and the generic company Cipla, over a claim of patent infringement in respect of a drug that treats cancer called Docetaxel. SECTION27 is acting as attorneys Continue Reading
TAC and SECTION27 urge Parliament not to ratify WTO decision on Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health
Cabinet recently resolved to ask Parliament to take the necessary steps to enable South Africa to ratify a decision taken by the World Trade Organization (WTO) on intellectual property and access to medicines. At its meeting held on 16 March 2011, Cabinet decided to request Parliament to –
– ratify the WTO decision on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health; and
– deposit “an instrument of ratification … with the WTO.”
As organisations that are committed to ensuring universal access to essential medicines, as an integral part of the constitutional right to have access to health care services, TAC and SECTION27 call on Parliament not to ratify the decision. In this press statement we explain why we make this call.
Concerns regarding Indian trade negotiations with EU
Letter to the High Commissioner for India to South Africa: Our concerns regarding Indian trade negotiations with EU.
This letter explains that the prospect of making new ARVs available in South Africa at affordable prices is under threat because of events unfolding in India. In particular, pressure is being applied by the European Union on the Indian government to sign a bilateral trade agreement that will stifle competition on essential medicines still under patent.
Patents Amendment Bill, 2005
The AIDS Law Project (ALP) and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) welcome this opportunity to make written submissions on the Patents Amendment Bill [B 17 – 2005] (“the Bill”). As two organisations that have consistently advocated for the development of our patent system into one that considers South Africa’s competitive advantage and takes into account the specific needs of its people, we support what the Bill aims to achieve and, in general terms, how it goes about accomplishing its stated objective.
Submission to Canada's Parliament on bill to amend the Patent Act and the Food and Drugs Act
The global AIDS epidemic is one of the greatest threats to security and development in the world. Millions of people in developing countries are dying of AIDS, TB and malaria – while the first world sits idly by. High prices of medicines, protected from competition by patent law, make it impossible for poor people to protect themselves against illness and death.