111. During the period November 2012 – September 2013, legislative and policy advice on patents that referred or included considerations regarding the Paragraph 6 System has been provided by the WIPO as follows:
• At the request of four Member States, WIPO Secretariat drafted laws and/or prepared comments on draft laws which included reference to, or implemented, the Paragraph 6 System.
• In the framework of legislative assistance on patents, matters related to health policies, including the Paragraph 6 System, were also addressed in the context of six missions that were undertaken in Member States and eight consultations that took place in WIPO headquarters in Geneva.
• Legislative implementation of patent law matters related to health policies, including the implementation of the Paragraph 6 System, were addressed in the following seminars or meetings:
a. WIPO Regional Seminar for Certain African Countries on the Implementation and Use of several Patent-Related Flexibilities, Durban, South Africa, 29 to 31/01/2013;
b. WIPO Sub-Regional Workshop on Patent Policy and its Legislative Implementation, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, 10 and 11/04/2013;
c. WIPO-Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) Sub-Regional Workshop on Trade of Services for the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Douala, Cameroon, 6 to 9/08/2013.
112. During the period under consideration, the World Intellectual Property Organization also participated at the following WTO Seminars where the topic of patent-related flexibilities, with a reference to the Paragraph 6 System, has been dealt with:
a. WTO Regional Workshop for Latin American Countries on TRIPS and Public Policies, Bogotá, Colombia, 16 to 18/04/2013;
b. WTO National Seminar on TRIPS and Public Health, Luanda, Angola, 10 and 11/07/2013;
c. WTO Regional Workshop on IP and Public Health, Arusha, Tanzania, 29 to 31/05/2013; and
d. WTO National Workshop on TRIPS Flexibilities, Pretoria, South Africa, August 6 to 8, 2013.
113. WIPO's assistance is consistently based on the multilateral legal framework. More recently, a number of national authorities in charge of drafting laws have been seeking advice from WIPO regarding how to use the available multilateral flexibilities so as to accommodate particular national interests that are specific to their countries. Since the Paragraph 6 System is part of those flexibilities which are considered by several countries as part of their access-to-medicine policies, this issue is regularly covered by WIPO legislative and policy assistance.
114. The following is an update on WIPO Re:Search. One of the world's great global health challenges is to overcome the impact of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), malaria and tuberculosis. These diseases negatively affect the lives of more than one billion people, many of whom live in the world's least developed countries. To generate more investment in innovation directed at these diseases, the World Intellectual Property Organization in cooperation with public and private sector partners launched WIPO Re:Search in 2011. As reported to the TRIPS Council in October 2011 and November 2012, WIPO Re:Search is a platform addressed to catalyze more research in NTDs, malaria, and tuberculosis by facilitating the sharing of IP assets and resources among public and private sector partners and researchers in this important field. By providing a searchable, public database of available IP assets (for example, pharmaceutical compounds, know-how and data available for research and development), WIPO Re:Search facilitates new partnerships to support organizations that conduct research on treatments for those diseases.
115. WIPO Re:Search was launched on 26/10/2011, with about 30 members, including pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and a range of public and private entities. To date, WIPO Re:Search has more than doubled its membership, with 76 members currently, including more than ten African members from the academia and the public and private sectors. Since our report in 2012 to the TRIPS Council, thanks to WIPO Re:search over 30 collaborations have been initiated, and more are in development.
116. Also, thanks to a Funds-in-Trust provided to WIPO by the Government of Australia, five scientists from five African countries – Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa – are working in research labs of WIPO Re:Search members in India, Switzerland and the USA, where they are upgrading their R&D management skills and furthering their research work.
117. WIPO Re:Search is founded on the belief that intellectual property and knowledge can be used creatively to stimulate more investment in research and development for new health solutions. Intellectually property should be used to make a positive contribution. WIPO Re:Search works entirely on a voluntary basis of all participating parties and has no impact on any legal instrument. The WIPO Re:Search website http://www.wipo.int/research provides further information.