Upcoming and Past Meetings
WHO, WIPO & WTO Trilateral Symposium 2022, December 16, 2022
- WHO-WIPO-WTO Workshop Innovation and Access to diagnostics for COVID-19 and beyond, October 28, 2022
- WIPO Virtual Workshop on The Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Development Success, May 5, 2022
This virtual workshop discussed the Study The Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Development Success (Study commissioned by WIPO to Rena Conti with comments by Shanelle Hall and Axel Metzger). The study looked at a number of select case studies and found that vaccine success or failure result from a variety of determinants that work together. The study highlights particularly the importance of research and manufacturing collaboration, political will, funding, among many other factors. - WHO, WIPO, WTO Workshop on Innovation in, and Access to, COVID-19 Technologies: Accessing and Using Information Resources for the Pandemic Response, February 28, 2022
- Cutting-Edge Health Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges, a joint technical symposium by WHO, WIPO and WTO, October 31, 2019
This Symposium will discuss innovation in, and access to, cutting-edge health technologies. The Directors General of the three collaborating organizations will open the Symposium. A first panel will discuss perspectives for future health outcomes through biotechnology, information technology and big data as applied in the medical and medical devices sectors. A second panel will discuss the opportunities and challenges of optimizing the benefits of these new technologies. To mark 10 years of more closely coordinated trilateral cooperation between the WHO, WIPO and the WTO, each organization will give an update of recent work with bearing on the themes of the Symposium.
The eighth joint technical symposium will take place at WTO Headquarters, is open to the interested public and requires registration by October 24, 2019. Further information.
- Sustainable Development Goals: Innovative technologies to promote healthy lives and well-being, a Joint Technical Symposium by WHO, WIPO and WTO, February 26, 2018Access to, and innovation in, health technologies is a requisite element for ensuring progress toward universal health coverage and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely SDG 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Scientific progress, advances in health technologies and improved trade have contributed to unprecedented improvements in health outcomes. However, gains in life expectancy and quality of life are unequally distributed between low-, middle-, and high-income countries. The seventh technical symposium organized by WHO, WIPO, WTO will discuss challenges and opportunities for the international community to ensure that innovative technologies are developed and reach patients in order to realize the right to health and the health-related SDGs. The event will take place at WHO Headquarters, is open to the interested public and requires registration by February 18, 2018.
- Global Challenges Seminar on Vaccines: Accelerating Innovation and Access (November 8, 2017)
- Antimicrobial Resistance: How to Foster Innovation, Access and Appropriate Use of Antibiotics? A Joint Technical Symposium by WHO, WIPO and WTO (October 25, 2016)
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing challenges for humanity. It affects all areas of health, involves many sectors and has an impact on the whole of society. Increasing resistance threatens to roll back the achievements of modern medicine as many medicinal procedures rely on effective antibiotics. Antibiotics, more than other medicines, can be considered a public good for which society has a collective responsibility. The Symposium will offer a forum to exchange views and experiences, to achieve a better understanding of the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance and to envisage possible ways forward. - Global Challenges Seminar on Patents and the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (18th Edition): Clarifying the Debate on IP and Access | Video (April 12, 2016)
The Seminar presents the WIPO Global Challenges Report Patent-based Analysis of the World Health Organization’s 2013 Model List of Essential Medicines. The Global Challenges Report aims at identifying which of the 375 items on the 2013 MLEM are patented and where. - WIPO Global Challenges Seminar on Advancing a New Generation of Products to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (October 29, 2015)
Dr. Peter Hotez, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, will address the impact of neglected diseases, the urgent need for more and better therapies, and how initiatives such as WIPO Re:Search contribute to sustainable solutions. - Public Health, Intellectual Property, and TRIPS at 20: Innovation and Access to Medicines; Learning from the Past, Illuminating the Future - Joint Symposium by WHO, WIPO, WTO (October 28, 2015)
The Symposium endeavors to review the information base on access and innovation in medical technologies and to identify possibilities and limitations for better integrating data in support of policy makers’ future work. - WHO, WIPO, WTO Joint Technical Workshop on Patentability Criteria (October 27, 2015)
The workshop complements the WHO, WIPO, WTO Symposium on October 28, 2015 and will provide participants with practical insights into how the main substantive patentability criteria are applied in practice at country level and how different interpretations can impact on public health. - Global Challenges Seminar – “Innovation and Access to Medicines: A Case Study for HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C” (Geneva, December 5, 2014) Video
- Innovation and Access to Medical Technologies: Challenges and Opportunities for Middle-income Countries – Joint Technical Symposium by WHO, WIPO and WTO (November 5, 2014)
- Medical Innovation - Changing Business Models: A Joint Technical Symposium by WHO, WIPO and WTO (July 5, 2013)
- WHO, WIPO, WTO release study on health innovation and access to medicines (February 5, 2013)
- Licensing and Prices: New Approaches in the Pharmaceutical Sector Video
- Fifth High-Level Symposium on Global Health Diplomacy (November 23, 2011)
- Press Conference and Round Table: WIPO Re:Search (October 26, 2011)
- Access to Medicines, Patent Information and Freedom to Operate: A Joint Technical Symposium by WHO, WIPO and WTO (February 18, 2011)
- Workshop on Patent Searches and Freedom to Operate (February 17, 2011 )
- Access to Medicines: Pricing and Procurement Practices - A Joint Technical Symposium by WHO, WIPO and WTO (July 16, 2010)
This Symposium presented in a factual manner the experiences of international and regional agencies in the pricing and procurement of medicines as important determinants of access. - WIPO Symposium on the Evolution of the Regulatory Framework of Test Data (February 8, 2010)
This Symposium focused on legal practice and experience in test data protection in the pharmaceutical industry. Participants included representatives of intergovernmental organizations, regulatory agencies and industry. - WIPO Symposium on Future Challenges of International Law: The Way Forward in Patenting Biotechnology (November 25, 2009)
Organized in cooperation with the University of Berne and the World Trade Institute (WTI), this Symposium addressed the interface between biotechnology, IP rights and international trade, and also explored options for the international patent system following the WTO Doha Round. The Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) presented research conducted in the framework of its International Trade Project on Biotechnology. The program presented case studies on animal and human genetic resources, as well as future challenges regarding the international regulation of IP rights and biotechnology from the WIPO and WTO perspectives. - WIPO Symposium on Public Sector IP Management in the Life Sciences (December 15, 2008)
This Symposium explored different national approaches, institutional policies and public-private partnerships in public sector management of IP in the life sciences. It included representatives from WIPO Member States (Cuba, Germany, South Africa, USA), the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), the WHO, the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDI). - WIPO Symposium on Public Policy Patent Landscaping in the Life Sciences (April 7 and 8, 2008)
Organized in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, this Symposium included a peer review of a WIPO-FAO Patent Search Project on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, as well as discussions on patent landscaping in public health. - WIPO Symposium on Intellectual Property and Life Sciences Regulation (November 16, 2007)
Organized by WIPO in cooperation with the Stockholm Network, this Symposium discussed the IP dimension of protecting regulatory data related to pharmaceutical and agricultural products. It addressed exceptions to patent rights for regulatory processes, the grant of patent term extensions to compensate for regulatory requirements, and the challenge of regulating new technologies – as well as biological pharmaceuticals and diverse approaches to linking patent protection with regulatory approval. - WIPO Symposium on Current Issues in Intellectual Property and Public Health (September 19, 2007)
A half-day Symposium in which representatives of WIPO Member States (Chile, France, Thailand), the WHO, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and Médecins sans frontières (MSF) (Doctors without Borders) discussed current issues in IP and public health. - WIPO Symposium on IP and Bioethics (September 4, 2007)
The Symposium looked at implications of intellectual property rights and their ethical underpinnings.