The Greening of Technology Transfer: A Conference Summary

Dr. Hennessey briefly reports on an international conference that explored the relationship between patent and other intellectual property laws and those designed to protect the environment and maintain biodiversity

Brief of Law Professors as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondent

Inventors lacking assurance of a market, or even the right to practice patented inventions, face considerable risk. Those who qualify for patents, in return for disclosure, receive only the assistance of the courts in excluding others from economic exploitation of their inventions. Already subject to many legislative and judicial limitations, patents should not be further subject to the functional equivalent of private inverse condemnation without congressional action

Zika beyond the Americas: Travelers as sentinels of Zika virus transmission. A GeoSentinel analysis, 2012 to 2016.

Background: Zika virus (ZIKV) was first isolated in Africa; decades later, caused large outbreaks in the Pacific, and is considered endemic in Asia. We aim to describe ZIKV disease epidemiology outside the Americas, the importance of travelers as sentinels of disease transmission, and discrepancies in travel advisories from major international health organizations. Methods and findings This descriptive analysis using GeoSentinel Surveillance Network records involves sixty-four travel and tropical medicine clinics in 29 countries. Ill returned travelers with a confirmed or probable diagnosis of ZIKV disease acquired in Africa, Asia and the Pacific seen between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2016 are included, and the frequencies of demographic, trip, and diagnostic characteristics described. ZIKV was acquired in Asia (18), the Pacific (10) and Africa (1). For five countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cameroon), GeoSentinel patients were sentinel markers of recent Zika activity. Additionally, the first confirmed ZIKV infection acquired in Kiribati was reported to GeoSentinel (2015), and a probable case was reported from Timor Leste (April 2016), representing the only case known to date. Review of Zika situation updates from major international health authorities for country risk classifications shows heterogeneity in ZIKV country travel advisories. Conclusions: Travelers are integral to the global spread of ZIKV, serving as sentinel markers of disease activity. Although GeoSentinel data are collected by specialized clinics and do not capture all imported cases, we show that surveillance of imported infections by returned travelers augments local surveillance system data regarding ZIKV epidemiology and can assist with risk categorization by international authorities. However, travel advisories are variable due to risk uncertainties

What’s New? Innovating the Teaching of Innovation Law

118-128The human resource component is a critical bridge between IPR protection, innovation promotion, and economic development. This paper reviews efforts to create a replicable model for teaching IP and innovation law based upon two decades of building and teaching such a curriculum in the United States to law students, scientists and engineers, business managers, and government officials. One broad point of emphasis is the importance of the cross-disciplinary classroom (equally addressing the needs and interests of those groups of students) for the development of a cadre of ‘IP professionals’. But development of an IP profession, standing alone, is inadequate. Hence, the second point of emphasis is the need to impart highly specialized transactional, managerial, and negotiation skills, to turn ‘IP professionals’ into true ‘innovation professionals’ who can serve as a platform for a truly indigenous and self-perpetuating ‘infrastructure of innovation’