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ID:
086957
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Publication |
2009.
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Summary/Abstract |
After a hard-fought battle that saw China clinch the bid to host the XXIX Olympic Games, the country put comparable efforts into upgrading its intellectual property laws, not only to bring them into consonance with the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), but also to accord the Olympic-related intellectual property rights the appropriate protection. Despite these efforts, China is still plagued with a myriad of TRIPS compliance problems. The Olympic Games presented the opportunity that China needed to light the torch that would help it repair the damage caused to its image by issues such as reverse engineering of almost everything under the sun, as well as those relating to enforcement and protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), etc., and cause it to be seen in a positive light by the rest of the world. The world watched China closely for the weeks of the Olympic Games and will be watching it, even after the Olympic torch has flickered out, to see whether the enforcement and protection of IPRs will outlast the Olympic ceremony.
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2 |
ID:
095582
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Publication |
2010.
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Summary/Abstract |
Increasing access to essential medicines has become an international priority, given the rapid spread of intractable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It follows that the quests to improve the global quality of healthcare and achieve health equity present a challenge for many countries, especially those that have been hard hit by deadly pandemics and whose populations are also still without essential drugs. Consequently, many countries have stepped up efforts to remove the obstacles to the availability and affordability of essential medicines. The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) contains flexibilities that can be used as tools for enhancing access to cheap medicines and for controlling drug pricing. However, these flexibilities are not necessarily a panacea and cannot singly solve the problem of limited access to essential medicines. Put differently, cheaper medicines cannot reach the poor without the infrastructure to deliver them. For this to become a reality, commitment on the part of the member countries to adopt comprehensive and cooperative measures to tackle the burdensome barriers that limit access to critical medicines is needed. It is only then that the flexibilities in TRIPS can be optimized and a real difference made in the lives of poor patients across the developing world.
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