Trade and Intellectual Property

Following up on a previous post of mine, let's check in on the Trump administration's efforts to lower drug prices in the U.S. market. A White House fact sheet from last week explains that "Trump sent letters to leading pharmaceutical manufacturers outlining the steps

In recent months, the Trump administration has undertaken some efforts to lower U.S. drug prices. I'm skeptical that their approach will work, but nevertheless it involves a range of issues that interact in interesting ways. With the caveat that I'm not really an expert on

This is a guest post from Maarten Meulenbelt, Chris Boyle, Lauren Shapiro, Maryanne Kamau, and Alix Vermulst of Sidley Austin. The full article on which the post is based is available here. In the EU, much has been written about the so-called “Pharma Review” proposals, published  by the European Commission

Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement says: "patents shall be available and patent rights enjoyable without discrimination as to the ... the field of technology."  The law is pretty clear, and doesn't leave much wiggle room. But why is that the rule?  Why shouldn't

From economists Joseph Stiglitz and Arjun Jayadev: The Indian Supreme Court’s refusal to uphold the patent on Gleevec, the blockbuster cancer drug developed by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, is good news for many of those in India suffering from cancer. If other developing countries follow India’s example,

Economist Arvind Subramanian comments on the Indian Supreme Court's Novartis ruling: Critics have suggested that India is a deviant for being the only country where Novartis’ claim has been rejected. Left out is the fact that even in the United States, the Novartis application—which was really for

From yesterday's TRIPS Council meeting: ... the Dominican Republic objected to a draft Australian law requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging without logos or trademarks. The brands would be identified simply in a standard typeface with large graphic health warnings. Australia originally notified the draft and the